Hello! My name is Shea Penning and I'm excited to meet you! I am a junior majoring in Advertising and minoring in Italian. I was born in Texas, have lived in Nevada and California, and was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma. I don't know exactly what I want to do once I graduate, but right now I think I'd like to continue my education at a portfolio school and study graphic design.
One of my favorite parts of college has been getting involved on campus! I got involved in Soonerthon Exec my freshman year in the Ambassador (aka fundraising) committee. I joined the same committee the next year as a team captain. If you are unfamiliar with Soonerthon, it is OU's official philanthropy for the Oklahoma City Children's Hospital Foundation and ends with a huge dance marathon in March. Last year, we raised over $1 million FTK (For the Kids)!
Picture of me at Soonerthon 2018. Personal image.
Soonerthon falls under Campus Activities Council, which is the programming branch of the Student Government Association and includes 15 different events around campus. After joining Soonerthon, I knew I wanted to get more involved in CAC and applied for Howdy Week, the fall welcome week at OU. I served on the publicity committee for Howdy Week 2018 and am finishing my term as the Howdy Week Chair. Our event is actually going on this week!
Outside of CAC, I am also involved in Camp Crimson. I attended Camp in 2016 as a camper and served as a Small Group Leader in 2017. I fell in love with Camp as an SGL (I had a pretty amazing family, campers, and co SGLs)! I didn't want Camp to just be one week of my summer, so I applied to be on Orientation Staff for Camp Crimson 2018 and was selected as the Social Media Coordinator and Graphic Designer.
This past summer, I kicked it off by getting my wisdom teeth removed the first day of break (I had a really fun start to my summer lol). As soon as I recovered, my parents and I flew with some family friends to Puerto Rico for a Caribbean cruise. We went to six different islands and I got to see several different parts of the Caribbean. Immediately after we returned home, I came back to Norman for Camp Crimson where I spent the rest of my summer! There are five different sessions of Camp: Hi-Rickety, Whoop-Te-Do, Boomer, Sooner, and OKU. I was working during most weeks, but had my "on-week" during Boomer. During this session, I led a group of SGLs alongside an Orientation Guide, and each group of these SGLs led campers once they arrived. I had the most amazing family and love getting to see them all around campus!
Image of the Martinez-Brooks family. Personal image.
A few more random things about me
I love tea, elephants, plants (specifically succulents), face masks, and taking random night drives with no destination.My favorite thing to do during breaks is travel, and some of my favorite places I have been are Florence, Philadelphia, Spokane, San Francisco, Venice, and London.
I really like alternative music, and my some of my favorite artists are Lord Huron, Sufjan Stevens, Young the Giant, The Smiths, Bad Suns, Vance Joy, The Killers, The Lumineers, and Vampire Weekend. I also love all 80s music.
"Cardiac Arrest" by Bad Suns
Thanks for reading about me and getting to know me a little better!
Hi Shea!
ReplyDeleteGaylord pals! I am a public relations major, I thought about advertising for a while but realized I did not want to take econ... You are brave! Where did you go in the Caribbean? I have been to Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel, Belize, and Honduras. I loved all of the countries and thought they were absolutely gorgeous. These countries really remind me how much I love the water. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I also love San Francisco, I was born there.
I really like your taste in music, I saw the Lumineers live two years ago in OKC. They were super awesome live and I hope you get to see them if you have not already.
Benvenuta, Shea: parlo italiano anch'io! My main professor in graduate school was at the University of Siena, and I got to spend a lot of time there. Maybe you will want to do an Italian project for this class; there are so many wonderful Italian story collections online... and of course there are elephant stories from all over Africa and India too; that would also make a fabulous class project. It was exciting to see Soonerthon cross that million-dollar mark last year; if there is any Soontheron info or events you want to me to share in the class announcements, just let me know! It sounds like you are involved in all kinds of great campus events, and I like to put an event in the announcements every day -- even better when the event is connected to someone in class! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Shea,
ReplyDeleteBeing involved in campus is great. Campus does have a lot of fun things to offer depending on the interest we have. Soonerthon was one my my favorite things I was part of at OU. Just hearing personal stories and also seeing how the money impacts someone life so much is a great feeling. I liked your random facts, I also love traveling myself. I really like how your page looks btw, it is very different.
Hi Shea!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of us Gaylord majors in this class! You seem to be extremely involved on campus and doing a lot of volunteering, which is absolutely amazing, how do you find the extra hours in your day to get all of those things done? I have never participated in Soonerthon but I think I might be doing it this spring, I've heard so many great things about it from people that have been a part of it.
- Anna Margret
Awesome introduction! I love hearing about people's involvement on campus and seeing them really buy into the experience! I got the amazing opportunity to be an SGL this summer (at Whoop-Te-Do) and loved it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love 80's music too! There's just something about that era that will make it stick around for a long while, I think. I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Nice to meet you Shea! I'm also a fan of alternative music. I listen to a wide variety so I can't say it's my favorite because I don't have a favorite, but I still love it when I get into phases of wanting to binge on alternative music. Of Monsters and Men, Stella Donnelly, Eels, Last Dinosuars, and Norah Jones are great to listen too if you haven't checked them out already. Have a great semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Shea! I'm an advertising junior as well! I really loved your introduction. You are definitely a busy person based on all the activities you volunteer for. You also have some good music tastes. I kick off every summer to 80s jams, and The Killers is one of my favorite bands. I look forward to reading more of your work, and maybe I'll see you around Gaylord.
ReplyDeleteHey Shea!
ReplyDeleteYou are so incredibly involved around campus and I already knew you did a ton but after reading this intro I don't know how you have free time! Camp Crimson was a blast (Go Martinez-Brooks fam!) and I'm glad your summer only got better after the wisdom teeth removal. We have super similar tastes in music and I LOVE Bad Suns! My big got me into them & I think the lead singer has such a unique voice they're just really fun to listen to.
Hi Shea! I was raised in Oklahoma and am a Junior as well. Congratulations on helping raise that 1 million dollars! That's awesome! I liked doing Camp Crimson and I always wondered what it would be like to work in it. As for the night drives, I thought I was the only one lol. Anyways, nice getting to know a little about you!
ReplyDeleteHi Shae! I am a Gaylord girl as well. My name is Makenzi and I'm a senior PR major and I too am still trying to figure out what exactly it is that I am wanting to do when i graduate. That's awesome you're involved in soonerthon! Many of my close close friends are very involved and I've enjoyed going to all of their events last year and this year. I too love Florence, Italy. I lived in Italy last summer and got to spend some time in Florence and it was my favorite out of everywhere I visited!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great semester!
Hi Shea! It is great how involved you are on campus. I have a ton of friends that are involved in Soonerthon and they love it! I have attended Sonnerthon each year but I have never been on exec. Graphic design would be an awesome thing to do. It would definitely be a fun career and would open up a lot of opportunities! Good luck with everything!
ReplyDeleteHi Shae, nice to “meet” you! I recently had a friend complete extra training a graphic design school and her creations were so cool! It is such an interesting and creative field. Soonerthon is so special, and it is so cool that you were able to have such an impact on it. Other than having your wisdom teeth removed, it sounds like you had a fun summer!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea! I have a few friends that are advertising majors and it sounds really cool! I wish I could be good at graphic designs. It’s fun to see that you want to enroll in a portfolio school—I had never heard of that before. Great involvement! I am on CAC Homecoming executive committee so yay for involvement! I look forward to reading more from you! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Shea, my name is Devin and I am a senior her at The University of Oklahoma majoring in chemical engineering. I saw that you love to get involved on campus which I thought is really great. There are so many things you can do here on campus, its crazy. I hope you are having a great school year so far!
ReplyDeleteHey Shea!
ReplyDeleteI also have no idea what I am doing with my life currently, so hearing other people say that really helps me feel more comfortable. You seem very involved on campus, so I am surprised that I have no run into you! YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE BAND BLEACHERS IF YOU GET THE CHANCE. Sorry for yelling, but they are my favorite. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading more of your stuff!
Hi Shea! Nice to meet you! Wow, you are really involved on campus! I'm an online student, so I hate that I don't get to take part in anything on campus. It's okay to not know what you want to do when you graduate, I'm 46 and going back to school and really still don't know what I want to do. I know what I'm good at and the type of jobs I always gravitate to, but I'd still love to do something like computer programming. It just wasn't a major I could do taking all online courses. I think graphic design would be an awesome thing to do. My oldest daughter was going to do graphic design, but the university she chose didn't have a true graphic design program and she wound up with a Fine Arts degree, which is pretty much useless unless you go to grad school but she's happy with the job she found so I guess that's all that matters. Good luck with the rest of your education & beyond!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea, your title with your middle name being "Campus Involvement" is very fitting! With everything you are involved in, I am surprised I have not encountered you on campus. I think it is a really great way to devote your time and energy, though, and I am sure that it is a very rewarding experience. Have a great rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea! Minoring in Italian is really cool! Any reason in particular? Maybe you could be a graphic designer in Italy one day! Soonerthon seems like a lot of fun. Everyone that I know that is involved in it has a great time and it is all for such a great cause. $1 million is so much money. Congrats on being apart of that! Your Caribbean cruise sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteHey Shea! I think it is so cool that you are minoring in Italian! I am not the best at learning new languages so I don't think I would make it very far with that major. Congrats on taking part in Soonerthon!
ReplyDeleteHi, Shea! First off, I have to say that it is really cool that you are minoring in Italian! I have always wanted to learn a second language, but I have never been the best at it when I try. I am part Italian, so I do know a few words, but not nearly enough to say I can speak it. Also, congrats on being a part of Soonerthon! My sorority joins it every year and it is always so cool to see how much money we as a school are able to raise for the kids in need! Have a great rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea,
ReplyDeleteClearly you have done a lot of traveling and I think that is so cool. When I was growing up my parents didn't have a lot of money so we didn't travel very far, but now that I am older they are well off and I should be too once I graduate. So, one of the things that I am really excited about after graduation is the opportunity to travel. I have never been out of the US, so I don't even have a passport, but my brother went to the Czech Republic this summer and I maybe this coming summer I can go with him. I also love plants, especially succulents, to the point that it is getting difficult to move apartments with them all. If I have to make a big move, I'll need to give some of them away, but I don't mind. I'll be happy to grow more! I look forward to reading your writing as we wrap up this semester!
-Cat
Hi Shea,
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see that you're so involved on campus. It's too bad that your summer had to start with you having your wisdom teeth removed, but luckily it seems like that didn't stop you from enjoying your summer. You mentioned that you like elephants, so here's a gif of a baby elephant (you can find more here). I hope the last couple of weeks of your semester go great!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea!
I really like alternative music too! I have never heard of Sufjan Stevens though so I will have to check them out! It is so cool that you are so involved on campus! I am graduating in December, but I always wished I would have done more at OU. I love to travel to and I have only been to London on your list so I need to step up my game. Glad I got to meet you!
Hey Shea!
ReplyDeleteI've had a lot friends go through Camp Crimson and become SGLs! All of them enjoyed it very much and encouraged me to try it out but frankly I've just never really had the time to do it. That's unfortunate that you had to get those wisdom teeth out but it sounds like you were able to go on a pretty awesome vacation afterwards! I hope the food restrictions didn't dampen your experience too much, cruises are my favorite kind of vacation second to snowboarding. I think you have fantastic taste in music. I've got some similar bands for you to check out (though I'm sure you've heard of them but didn't list them): The Wombats, The Naked and Famous, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Dreamers to name a few! Hope you have a great semester!
Hi Shea! It was a lot of fun reading about you. I love soonerthon, it has been one of my favorite things to go to while being here at OU. that is awesome you are so involved, people like you really keeps things like soonerthon going. The places you have traveled to are awesome, i have never been to Europe but i am hopefully going to be going this summer. Your life seems so interesting and super fun, best of luck with the rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea! I so rarely meet other Italian minors that when I read that part of your introduction, I gasped. I gasped again when I saw that you love Spokane, since it's my hometown. So it's really nice to meet you! Feels a bit serendipitous to be honest. I loved hearing about your involvement around campus, and I'm sure it's really great to know that you've shaped so many people's perceptions of OU. Keep up the good work and kick butt in finals!
ReplyDeleteP.S. You've got some great taste in music :)
Hey Shea!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome that you are so involved on campus. You must be really busy. It's definitely a nice way to meet new people. Also, I really like how you're minoring in Italian. I think it's always fun to learn a new language and wish I minored in one too. Anyways, I hope your semester goes well and good luck!
Hi Shea! its so awesome that you are so involved! I did not attend Camp Crimson as a freshman but now I definitely wish that I would have. It seems like such a nice experience. Italian is a beautiful language and it would be nice to learn. I speak Spanish so maybe I can look into finally similar words for now!
ReplyDelete