The man behind the curtain

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Joe Jurisic remembers last month’s Mardi Gras celebration with fondness. He remembers decorating the Student Center until it looked like Bourbon Street and all the hard work that went into obtaining an Oxygen Bar for the students.

He also remembers being stressed out, but even that he remembers with fondness.

As the newly elected VP of Student Life, Jurisic might spend a few more nights crying in his office, but to him it’s worth it.

“I love the blood, sweat and tears that happened,” he said. “I love the feeling of making everything appear so great, but behind the curtain, I’m in my office crying from stress, you know what I mean?”

Jurisic has been the special events chair over the past school year, but after the recent student government election, he will be taking the reins from his current boss, Sarah Standing. His new position as VP of Student Life will require that he oversee activities for students during the 2011-2012 school year.

“This is my niche,” he said. “I have a strong passion for event planning, any kind of event planning. I love doing that.”

Events will include things like dances, date nights and True Wolverine, as well as school spirit boosters like tailgates and Wolverine Wednesday. This will encompass a lot more than what he currently oversees, but Jurisic welcomes the challenge.

“This was kind of a way to take a step up from my position,” Jurisic said. “We’re all looking for things to keep us going. I was just looking for something to challenge myself more. And so it was like, ‘What’s the next thing?’”

This attitude keeps him ready for changes, something that has served him well so far. Change seems to be a normal part of Jurisic’s life.

Josip Jurisic was born in Croatia. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Boston, and from there they came to Utah. He still speaks Croatian with his parents and other relatives, but since his move to the states, he has become comfortable with his English moniker, Joe.

After he finished high school, Jurisic wanted to “get out of Utah,” so he enrolled in the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
After two years there, he decided he wanted to come back to Utah to finish school. According to Jurisic, it didn’t take him too long to realize that he wanted to be involved with activities.

“I was working at Scoops, and I was just the new kid at school. … I was involved with Kappa Sigma [fraternity] because I was trying to get to know people and get involved,” he said.

Soon he found out about two positions on student council that were opening, and he decided to take a shot at it.

“With my experience with clubs, through Kappa Sigma, I thought, ‘All right, well, I guess I can apply to become an ambassador.’
I got [that position],” Jurisic said. “The next year, I realized that my niche is activities and event planning, so I applied for special events chair and I got it.”