RYLA 5810 Alumni

Want to know how giant puppets and brainchildren pertain to Camp? In his interview with the Informant, Nick Georgas reveals these answers and more. 

RYLARIAN INFORMANT: So Nick, how long has RYLA been a part of your life?

NICK GEORGAS: I think six years sounds about right. I was a camper in 2000, and have come back through the years as a staffer and most recently as a counselor. 

RI: Give me the stats: Your hometown, high school, college major and the university you graduated from.

NG: Dallas, Richardson High School, Finance and The University of Texas at Austin. 

RI: Were you involved in anything specific during college?

NG: Sly Majid’s own brainchild Texas FIRST as well as University Finance Association 

RI: Sly Majid’s brainchild? Should I be nervous? 

NG: Not at all. It’s a freshmen leadership organization designed to get UT freshmen involved in service on campus and in the community.  

RI: And what are you doing now?

NG: I’m living in Columbus, Ohio. I moved here last February when my job moved from Seattle. I provide finance support to Chase’s Retail Distribution Network.  Our team looks at everything pertaining to the location, design & construction of Chase’s new bank branches as well as the closures of underperforming branches.  My role has been focused on changing the WaMu bank branches to the Chase brand as well as planning & staffing the business group to support the new bank branches that are planned over the next few years. 

RI: Did you move to Seattle specifically for your job?

NG: Actually, I did an internship in the summer of 2004 in Washington DC and had a great time moving to a new place and meeting new people.  I had such a positive experience, that I moved to Seattle after college. I was born & raised in Texas and knew what Texas had to offer.  I wanted to get out and experience different places and people while I was young and mobile.  

RI: How have you kept in touch with RYLA the past few years being so far away and why do you continue to do this?

NG: I have tried to stay involved by helping out on the RYLA Alumni committee.  I think we have such an impressive group of alumni that we need to work to get better engaged in the ongoing execution of camp and all the lead-up to camp.  I continue to help because I have learned a lot through camp and want others to have this opportunity in the future.  I also believe that alumni participation is critical because the alumni have all had similar meaningful experiences that they wish to pass on to others. 

RI: Is there a particular experience of your own that stands out to you?

NG: There was one experience that I still remember from my camper year that has helped to shape my leadership style.  My cabin group really struggled with the first run through of the activities day because we were all talking over each other in an effort to be the loudest.  And our lack of organization & planning was evidenced by what a full-fledged disaster that day was for our seemingly strong team.  We definitely improved in the subsequent run, but witnessing what didn’t work was so critical for me. Among several lessons learned out of this experience, I realized that often times it’s better to take a step back to assess the situation, determine the next steps and focus on clearly and calmly communicating the plan to your team. It also underscored the importance of setting up a plan on the front-end to organize the execution of any task.  It was also very clear that being the loudest person in a group doesn’t make you the de facto leader and that a much more effective style is to build a consensus with you team and ensure they are on-board with the plan prior to trying to execute.  This approach has proved far more effective for me than trying to push a plan on a team from a bully pulpit. 

RI: So, what is your favorite thing about RYLA?

NG: Watching the individual growth of both campers and staff over the week.  

RI: How was the transition from alumni staff to counselor treated you?

NG: Great – I was initially hesitant to the new role, but it was awesome.  Since you are in a cabin, you get to spend more time in a small group.  It’s pretty neat to watch a cabin – where everyone brings their own unique experiences and backgrounds – come together as a team.  And when they begin to get a little too comfortable, you shake things up a bit with the larger cabin groups and team-based activities.  To watch this group of total strangers come together as a cohesive unit really is a pretty amazing experience.  I had more of a tangible feeling of accomplishment by witnessing this development and growth on a smaller scale. 

RI: Have any plans for the future?

NG: I will probably go back to school for my MBA in the next couple years, likely focused on strategy.  Then I will probably have worked the “moving around the country” itch out of my system and move back to Texas. As for a career path, I would like to try consulting for a couple years to gain exposure to other industries prior to settling in anything specific.  After that, I may come back to banking or try something different.  

RI: Last question, do you have any favorite stories from camp?

NG: YES. In no particular order: 

• Dana’s story about giant puppets that he would use to scare his neighbors with by looking over their fences
• Deciding that it would be a good idea to get in the middle of a column of inner tubes and promptly being knocked over in said column of inner tubes
• The tuna fish & Saltines pranks from 2005
• Playing the “hey” game while campers arrived, which involved Sly and I walking around with a megaphone yelling “hey” at people and then when they turned around, pretending we were talking to someone else