To me, the textbook definition of being a leader looks like: being trusted to guide others, pursuing a common goal, and enacting change while including different perspectives. These are all accurate representations of the way leadership manifests; however, everyone has their own outlook and I’ve found mine through firsthand experiences at Chapman. I have never seen myself as someone who takes the backseat, and that is an admirable quality until it is not. I have burnt myself out over leading projects throughout my educational career and I have been in plenty of uncomfortable positions while taking on that responsibility. My turning point came when I started learning from professors and employers who truly embody what it means to lead and serve as a catalyst for change. They have taught me how to be an influential figure while maintaining personal and authentic connections with those who look to me for guidance. I have witnessed leaders who mindfully listen and take everyone’s input into consideration while keeping an open mind to being in the wrong. Effective leaders do not impose their agendas onto others; instead, they adapt quickly to groups’ dynamics and are cognizant of all experiences being brought to the table. Before coming to Chapman, I would have described leaders as powerful, steadfast, determined, and organized. Today, I see leaders as patient, ever-changing, enthusiastic, compassionate, and selfless.
Diversity and Inclusion Chairwoman, Gamma Phi Beta Sorority
D&I Committee Semester in Review
Knowledge: Gamma Phi Beta put together a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee as a way to address the growing awareness of systemic racism during the Black Lives Matter Movement of 2020. I applied and was appointed to the Membership and Recruitment Team leader, and I led eight members in our efforts to make our sorority a more inclusive and equitable institution. The Chairwoman announced she was taking a gap semester and would need a successor. She was impressed with my team’s contributions and the pace at which we worked; as a result, I was newly appointed to the head of our entire committee. I found myself leading twenty members who were looking to me for direction in dismantling our sorority’s traditions rooted in white supremacy and actively reshaping our organization.
Skills: I revamped the entire structure of the disorganized committee and narrowed down the group to nine liaisons who served as outlets to other leadership positions in the sorority. We met weekly and maintained communication each day to ensure progress, as well as committed to evaluating our success through our chapter’s feedback. Over the course of five months, the committee and I raised over $5,000 for 4 different nonprofits with funds going toward rebuilding Lebanon and supporting anti-racist organizations. We presented 23 educational lessons to members focusing on how we can all take part in intersectional and sustainable activism. We created procedures to vet potential new members, event attendees, and drive the appointment of women’s positions in our sorority. Together, we designed and posted 18 informational graphic images to the main social media account. I personally developed and executed a standard process to investigate and address member incident reports.
Disposition: My sorority had felt hostile and divided over the rising political tensions in 2020 and the once unifying social group had become anxiety-inducing. Without the grit and determination of my committee, I believe my sorority would still be divided. Gamma Phi Beta has returned to a unifying group of empowered women, and I am proud to have taken part in the collective effort.
Marketing and Education Co-Chair, Chapman University’s Advisory Group on the Status of Socioeconomic Stratification:
Knowledge: As the Marketing and Education Co-Chair of the Advisory Group on the Status of Socioeconomic Stratification, I am responsible for spreading awareness about resources available to Chapman Students and for educating students on the types of financial struggles that people face. In particular, our group has been focused on food insecurity. We have worked to provide a pop-up food pantry for Chapman community members experiencing food insecurity, supported by the Orange Home Grown Farmer’s Market.
Skills: My experience with this committee can compare similarly to my experience with being the Diversity and Inclusion Chair for Gamma Phi Beta. My predecessor was no longer involved, so I applied and was appointed to her position as the co-chair. This was new territory for me, and I was eager to learn more from my subcommittee and guide them through the planning and execution of the pop-up food pantry. I was responsible for creating the marketing materials and keeping in touch with campus and community partners to reach as many people as possible about the new pantry. Working in Chapman’s Office of Community Relations, I was able to utilize my marketing and communication skills and apply them to these efforts.
Disposition: As the co-chair of this group, I have a growing awareness of the financial instability community members face. My contributions may be small in the grand scheme of things, but the work I have put into spreading awareness of resources has been fulfilling in itself. I am grateful for the opportunity to give students and surrounding neighbors efficient information about the support available to them and plan on staying in this position as long as I can.
Rho Gamma, Chapman University Panhellenic
Knowledge: As a recruitment counselor, better known as a Rho Gamma, I was a sorority member who disassociated from Gamma Phi Beta and unbiasedly led a group of potential new members through the sorority recruitment process. To put it simply, I was responsible for guiding a group of prospective sorority members throughout the week of their recruitment. I served as someone who had gone through the experience and could offer support in times of uncertainty.
Skills: Each day, I met with my group of twelve women and shared announcements provided by the Panhellenic council. I spoke with each person throughout the days of recruitment to make wellness checks, answer questions, offer suggestions for coping with stress or anxiety, and serve as a positive role model and constant friend. I created activities to participate in as a group and I sent out words of affirmation every morning as encouragement. At the end of each day, I helped the women through their decision-making process of which sororities they did or did not want to commit to.
Disposition: Being in this position was difficult as someone who is sensitive and empathetic to my detriment. I was responsible for each woman’s emotional well-being through their anxiety-inducing experience, and I had to navigate ways to comfort and support them while maintaining my composure as a role model. I was also in a position where I needed to be completely unbiased in my advising, which was a learning process for me. Overall, I came out of the week feeling more confident in my ability to become a future educator that is inclusive, empowering, and supportive while keeping a professional demeanor.
Home Aid Family Care Center Philanthropy Project, IES 103: Philosophy of Helping
HomeAid Family Care Center Slideshow
Knowledge: During this course, I led a group project where we advocated for a local nonprofit organization of our choice to receive a grant. We researched the Home Aid Family Center of Orange County’s background, mission, values, and efforts in order to best represent their institution. We presented our findings to the class and had the opportunity to spread awareness of their impact on our community.
Skills: This project was singlehandedly the catalyst for my turning point as a leader. It was my breaking point, and I learned more about leadership from this firsthand experience than any book or class could teach me. My group members were unfamiliar to me and when I jumpstarted our project, I became the unspoken leader. At the time, I viewed leaders as authoritative figures, and I acted just like that. I imposed my beliefs of what the timeline, process, presentation, and overall experience should have looked like. After passive arguments with members, I realized that I was making the project unenjoyable, stressful, and a burden on everyone. I immediately changed the trajectory of my leadership and approached the assignment as a group effort that encompassed everyone’s ideas and I stepped outside of my conditioned habits. Rather than seeing it as a task, we collectively began to view it as a passion project. Seeing the dynamic switch from tense to compatible was when I decided to leave my constructed idea of leadership behind.
Disposition: Through this experience, I committed to becoming a compassionate and adaptable leader who creates safe environments for others to contribute and teach me. I learned that each person has an entire life full of experiences that I could never understand, and I should be so lucky to get a glimpse of what their voice has to offer. It would be a disservice if I were to have continued silencing those voices by being so loud. In hindsight, I am grateful for the conflict I faced and the way it has not only improved my relationships with classmates and coworkers, but with my peers as well.