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Senior
has big plans for future but must finish commitments
By
Valery Ingley
Staff Reporter
Feleceia Benton has crammed more into her last three years
at TCU than most college students have in the past 10
years. By the time many students roll out of bed and scramble
to an 11 a.m. class in pajamas, Benton, a junior musical
theater and advertising and public relations major, has
been up for hours, either working at one of her four jobs
or participating in one of her many organizations.
In fact, Benton never gets to leave work. For the past
two years, she has served as a resident assistant in Moncrief
Hall, a job she says feeds her desire to interact with
people.
“I like people and I like to get to know people,”
she said.
She said being an RA has shown her that sometimes interactions
between people are not always peaceful. Occasionally,
Benton has found herself in the middle of a roommate conflict.
During these skirmishes Benton has tried not only to remain
objective, but also to listen.
In fact, it is her willingness to listen that Benton says
she has most had to use as an RA.
“She will go out of her way to listen, console, or
give advise to her friends,” said Bolu Odelusi, a
junior criminal justice major and Benton’s friend
of three years. “Whether that means staying up all
night to talk to a friend, knowing she has a 10- page
paper due.”
In addition, Benton says the most important part of being
a good RA is knowing when to communicate with people and
when to step back.
Being easy to find sometimes becomes a problem for Benton
with all her other commitments.
“She’s always really, really busy,” Jacob
Jewusiak, a junior English and philosophy major who works
in Moncrief office, said. “It seems that she sometimes
doesn’t have time for herself.”
Along with her job as an RA, Benton works at the Alcohol
and Beverage Commission at TCU, as well as two other jobs
at the Fort Worth Museum. She is also the president of
the gospel choir, is on the Frog Camp Directors’
Board, and is taking 18 hours this semester.
Nevertheless, Benton’s biggest time commitment is
her involvement in Bacchus Gamma, the nation’s largest
peer-education organization.
She is not just a member of the organization, she is one
of only two students in the United States chosen to serve
as student representatives on the Board of Trustees.
The position means she is constantly traveling to other
schools and giving presentations, speeches and support.
Since December, she has been to Denver, Portland, Houston,
Washington D.C. and most recently, North Carolina.
When asked how she balances work, school and activities,
Benton just shakes her head and smiles.
“You just do it,” she said. “There’s
no plan, there’s no strategy for making things balance.”
This positive attitude is what helps Benton to excel in
whatever she sets her mind to.
“When she wants something, she always finds a way
to do it,” Odelusi said, “even when the odds
are against her.”
To most college student, carrying a 15-hour load and a
part-time job, it’s hard to understand how Benton
can be so upbeat.
“When I first met Feleceia, she was a really hyper
crazy girl,” Odelusi said. “I thought she was
weird because she always seemed like she was on something,
but she wasn’t.”
Those who know her are convinced that it’s this optimistic,
energetic personality, that will carry Benton far in life.
The next step for Benton is graduate school at the University
of North Texas, to get a master’s in education. Eventually,
she would like to open up her own dance and vocal studio,
or even sing professionally.
But she cannot resist returning to the place she has given
her four years.
“It’s not until you stop and think about it
and you realize what you have and have not done,”
Benton said. “That’s when it gets overbearing.” |
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