nick camachoBrendan Gail was awarded the Outstanding Student Employee award Thursday at the alumni house patio where he was honored for the on-going work he has done for the Cal Poly Rec Center.
“It is extremely flattering to have won, I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Gail said.
Gail did not even know he was nominated for the award until late in the process when he was informed that his advisors had entered him in the competition and he was already in the finals.
Gail, a recreation, parks and tourism administration senior, was presented with the award by President Warren J. Baker. He was unanimously selected for this award among 24 other nominees.
Gail has worked for the Rec Center for the past three years and now is a student manager with his own staff of five. He started working for the Rec Center because he said he wanted to experience more than just school and felt he needed a job.
“I wanted to have a balance of things,” Gail said.
His responsibilities include event programming for concerts held on campus; running non-athletic sports clubs, which include rugby, lacrosse, field hockey and water polo; and developing new ideas for campus activities such as the Madden football tournament, the poker tournament and Dusk till Dawn, a carnival held at the Rec Center that drew approximately 1,500 people.
The Dusk till Dawn was Gail’s favorite event because it was full of non-traditional events like a mechanical bull, several concerts and an obstacle course that attracted many students.
“It had something everyone could enjoy,” Gail said.
Last week, Gail won the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association Award, also known as the William Wasson Award, and is currently in the running for the Western Regional Competition for the outstanding student employee award. He has also won Staff Champion and Employee of the Month several times and is currently the treasurer of the Rho Phi Lambda honor fraternity.
ASI Associate Director Ron Skamfer nominated Gail for the award based on how Gail has handled such an important position with excellence.
“Brendan has such a huge responsibility and has done an exceptional job, he is a spectacular employee,” Skamfer said.
“I have a lot of freedom to be creative and work with a great group of people,” Gail said.
Gail said he is extremely appreciative of the advisors and staff that have helped him accomplish all that he has. After graduation he hopes to attain his master’s degree and pursue recreational work somewhere throughout the state.