Rory Szwed
Epsilon Gamma '96
- I am a Buffalonian, and have been since 2006. Before that I spent the majority of my life in the Adirondack Mountains in Northern New York State. I was raised in Saranac Lake and lived there for about 15 years - through High School Graduation. College brought me out to Alfred University for the next 2 years, and then whisked me back north to SUNY Potsdam for another 10. (No worries, though! I wasn't a student the WHOLE time. It is where I found my niche working with college students through Residence Life, which has since become my career!). Currently I work at D'Youville College which sits on the West Side of downtown Buffalo, and is one block from the Peace Bridge that connects my city with Canada (which is to the West of us, go figure!). My "official" job title is "Assistant Director for Residence Life" and the majority of my responsibility is managing an Apartment Complex for about 160 upperclassmen and graduate students at the college. My work extends beyond that in many different directions ranging from staff selection, training, and supervision, to campus event planning, photography, club advising, budget managing, assessment analysis, maintenance, and general problem solving.
- My APO "history" dates back to 1996 when I was a student at Alfred University and pledged Epsilon Gamma chapter. I loved Alfred a lot, but by the time I reached my sophomore year, I realized that I didn't really like the major I chose, and had to make the difficult choice of transferring a semester later. Sadly, there was no APO at the next college I attended and so my involvement with APO was limited over the next period of time. Fast forwarding a bit, once I had finished graduate school in Potsdam and earned a job there, I had the opportunity to get involved with the Section 88 Staff and the Mu Omicron chapter at Clarkson University. They are a wonderful bunch of folks! During that time, I also took the courses necessary to become a Launch Presenter. Soon after, life changed directions with my job and brought me west to Buffalo. In the years since, I have been involved with the Chi Pi and Epsilon Sigma chapters as an Advisor, volunteer with the Section 89 Staff as Vice-Chair and Section Rep. to Epsilon Gamma, and help out with the Epsilon Gamma Alumni Association. Additionally, I try to attend as many APO conferences as my schedule will allow at the sectional, regional, and national levels.
Oh... and I'm on facebook. So you can totally facebook me. :o)