Texas A&M University-Commerce senior volleyball player and Student-Athlete Advisory Council president Taryn Driver is currently in Nashville, Tenn., for the 2017 NCAA Convention, as the Lone Star Conference's representative on the Division II National Student-Athlete Advisory Council. Driver will be providing updates for Lion fans throughout her time in Nashville. LionAthletics.com will be posting daily as Driver gives us a look at her trip.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17
Hello Lions!
 
This time of year is always hectic, but also very rewarding! For me, as soon as the holidays were over I was immediately looking forward to going to Nashville where I would participate in the NCAA Convention. Wednesday night kicks off the start of our 2017 Convention with the Honors Celebration. I cannot wait to see what this event has in store for us again this year, as last year everyone had a great time and left feeling grateful and fulfilled. This year we will have Dak Prescott attending the event, and even though I am not personally a Cowboys fan (Go Texans!), I am still looking forward to being able to meet him! I know that this week will have much more in store for me, and I promise to represent the Lions well.
 
Keep following this blog to get more important updates about all of the amazing things we will be doing at the 2017 NCAA Convention!
 
Thank you,
Taryn Driver
LSC National SAAC Representative

 

Convention officially started for @D2SAAC this morning! Can't wait to see what this week has in store for us?? pic.twitter.com/QPUfFRx4Pu

— taryn (@taryndriverr) January 17, 2017

 

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18
 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19

Say hello to our incoming E-Board!
Chair: Jasmyn Lindsay
Vice Chair: @taryndriverr
Internal Ops: @hannah_peevy
External Com: @TDenn11 pic.twitter.com/oOMBFAYBfN

— Division II SAAC (@D2SAAC) January 19, 2017

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
Convention has been a great experience so far!  We have been able to meet so many influential people, as shown in some of the previous pictures posted.

These are people who have impacted thousands of lives, and I am glad that the NCAA honored them for making a difference. Today we gave our Conference updates during their meeting. I am pleased to announce that Division II set a new fundraising record in 2015-16, collecting over $608,000, making it the second straight year to raise over $600,000. The Lone Star Conference was ranked eighth out of the twenty-four total conferences, raising $21,508.97. I believe that over the next year we will be able to move up into the top five, and eventually hold one of the top three spots.

Division II SAAC has also started to focus on social justice. In our previous meetings it was revealed that there is definitely an issue with social injustice, and it has to be addressed on our respective campuses.  Lastly, Team Impact remains a strong alliance, and I am hoping that a team on our campus will get a Team Impact child soon.  For more of a description on what Team Impact does and how impactful it can be, go to www.goteamimpact.org.

Tomorrow wraps up our final day of convention, and it is arguably the most important one. We will be casting our votes on the 2017 legislation proposals.  National SAAC cherishes this opportunity because it was one of the goals set a few years back, to have a vote on the convention floor. I will be following up to let you all know how the business session goes!
 
Go Lions!
 
Taryn Driver
LSC National SAAC Representative