~Sylvie~

There are no words to explain how lucky I am to have Sylvia as my mentee. She is bright, kind, spunky, outgoing, curious, friendly, easy-going and so much more. I had such an amazing year watching her make new friends, experience college, decide on a major and succeed in the classroom. Sylvia amazes me every time we hang out, she is an overall genuine person who cares about everyone around her. 

Sylvia and I did not have to hang out every day to build the bond we have. I feel as though she will also be there for me, and I know I will always be there for her. Her spunky personality inspires me to let loose and have fun. She made me a better person.

Sylvia was the perfect person to experience retreat with. We both are so much alike, we like our naps and we are adventurous. She amazed me with her ability to socialize so easily, and she made me open up immensely during the two days in the woods. I learned so much about her over this year, I cannot imagine my life at CMU without her.

I was so proud of Sylvia for being so independent. At the beginning of the year, I checked up on her frequently. She was always doing some sort of fun adventure or hanging out with friends. She flourished so much her first year at CMU it was so exciting to watch. My freshman year at CMU was rough, so it was a great feeling to see Sylvia do so well adapting to being away from home, and taking college courses. It was such a rewarding experience to have someone under my wing, even though she did not need me a lot I felt as though I was someone she could look up to.

Sylvia is going to be a fantastic mentor. Seeing her talk about her mentee and her reveal is so cool, she lights up. I cannot wait to see where the next few years takes our friendship, and I cannot wait to watch Sylvia continue her college courses. I know she has a very bright future ahead of her, and I know she is going to impact so many lives in a positive way.

 

Sophomore Year RSO Reflection: Mentoring

My second RSO I have been very passionate about this year is not affiliated with CMU. The past year and a half I have interned for a pastor at a local church, Potter’s House. I helped her with many different tasks, all on a volunteer bases. I have helped her teach anger management classes for young girls, I have worked in the nursery, planned events, and I have acted as an administrative assistant for, International Heart Cry, Pastor Carla’s non-profit. Most importantly though I have mentored a ten-year-old girl.

The little girl I mentor and I meet every Tuesday for one or two hours. We go to the library, Discovery Museum, the park and other fun locations. I have LOVED mentoring her, it is so rewarding to see her light up when we hang out.

Pastor Carla and Mount Pleasant Mental Health wrap around program have told me that they see such a huge improvement in this little girl’s behavior since we have begun meeting. She is at the top of her class education wise, and has had less behavior issues at school.

I have grown so much mentoring her, it has been so amazing learning about her and teaching her new things. I will continue meeting with her until I graduate from CMU. She just needed a friend and a positive role model in her life, and I was blessed with the opportunity to be that person.

 

 

Sophomore Year RSO Reflection: Rotaract

Rotaract is a community service based RSO. Rotaract is the college level version or Rotary, or the high school version Interact. I joined this club because I LOVE to volunteer. This organization is so much more than just CMU or Mount Pleasant. We are a club who perform international and local service projects.

This year our international project was raising money to give to International Heart Cry for a mission trip that they will be going on in a few weeks. The money will be going towards resources to help a small village in rural Canada with different issues that they are having. This year we had multiple local projects. We cleaned up local parks, assembled Christmas gift baskets for children at the hospital, hosted the Rotary conference, volunteered at the Rotary Beef Dinner, made crafts for the elderly, made/donated tie-blankets, helped with demolition at the Women’s Aid Shelter, held our first annual Dodge-ball Tournament, hosted a community event with Dr. Pol, and raised money for the Women’s Aid Shelter. Each one was so much fun to participate in.

This year I had the privilege to hold a position on the eboard. My title was the volunteer chair, and I had the opportunity to serve with some really great people. I learned how to plan events, ask for donations and run meetings. All of eboard put so much energy into each one of our service projects. We had such an amazing time doing it, and we all grew very close.

I cannot wait to see where the next two years takes this RSO. There are so service projects that our club can get involved in. Now that I have been a part of this club I have grown an even stronger passion for volunteering. 

LAS Grad Ball: Sophomore year LEAD team Reflection

For the Leadership Advancement Scholarship, we are required to participate in a LEAD team. This means your group up with other LAS grades and perform some kind of service project or activity. I was ready to work on a project with people who care about it, just as much as I do.

Last year I was on the Relay for Life LEAD team, that was such an incredible experience. For my sophomore year LEAD team I was placed on the Grad Ball team. Grad ball is a banquet LAS hosts for their graduating seniors. There is food, speeches, pictures, and dancing. It is such a fun night where all of the cohorts get to dress up and celebrate the seniors who are graduating.

On the Grad Ball lead team I was placed on the setup committee. I also was able to help choose the venue, food, and invitations. Our event would not have been as successful if it was not for our LEAD team co-chairs Nicole Gerhauser and Sara Inbody. They did an AMAZING job planning this event! On the day of the event, everything went as plan. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was fun and everyone had a really nice time.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to serve on this LEAD team. It was so fun honoring the seniors in such a special way and it was so fun planning an event with my close friends and fellow LAS members. 

COM 461L: Leadership Communication

For my Leadership Advancement Scholarship, I am required to take certain classes that will expand my knowledge of leadership. As a sophomore, I was required to take COM 461L: Leadership Communication. In this class, we learned about different ways to communicate to followers as a leader. We learned how to communicate, how not to communicate and when to communicate. In addition to our amazing professor’s lectures, we also had student-led discussion sessions. I loved this concept because we all had the opportunity to lead a discussion about different ways to communicate as a leader.

This class has expanded my leadership skills immensely. I feel as though I have gone through many leadership building sessions, camps, etc. I was dreading taking another course where I already knew most of what I was taught. I was pleasantly surprised during this course though. I learned SO much new information that has helped me become a better leader. We learned things like how to conduct a meeting, leading in times of crisis, how to be a democratic leader and so much more.

I have already used information from the course in my life. It is really cool to see your education play a role in your RSO’s and employment. Now that I have taken this course I believe that my leadership skills have improved. I can use everything I learned in this course now, in two weeks and the rest of my life. I am so glad that we were required to take this class!

Dear Mentee…

Hello Sylvie, it’s me, your mentor!

I am so excited for this amazing experience for you to begin! As your mentor, I want to help make your college experience something you will cherish forever.

You don’t know this yet but you are in for a crazy year. You’ll experience heartbreaks, laughter, new friendships, new roommates, missing home and of course hard classes.

I want you to know something, I will be here for you NO MATTER WHAT. I have promised myself that your happiness is my number one concern for next year. I want you to be able to come to me with any question imaginable at 4 in the morning, I want you to feel comfortable enough to cry to me when you need to, and I want you to know you have a friend.

LAS is an amazing opportunity. Without it, I honestly do not know where I would be at this moment. Freshman year is very difficult, however, with the support of the LI you can accomplish anything.

I also want you to know that my whole cohort is here for you. Especially my roommates. You can come to any of us at any time and we will be there for you. The resources on campus are unlimited.

I know you are going to be successful by yourself. You are an amazing individual, but I want to make it easier for you then it is for a lot of people! I want you to be the best you can be, and I will be there to help you.

You are beautiful, smart, talented and sweet and I cannot wait to learn more about you. It is going to be a wonderful year creating endless amounts of memories with you.

Love your Mentor,

Riley

LDR 200L

For my Leadership Advancement Scholarship, we are required to complete courses that follow along with our protocol. One of the courses is LDR 200L, which is all about leadership theories.

One of my favorite things we learned during this course was how to facilitate. Facilitating means leading an activity or project and then reflecting on how the activity related to everyday life lessons. This class not only taught us how to facilitate, it also gave us resources on activities to facilitate.

This course required us to put together an initiative and put it on for the class. We also were in charge of an entire workshop that taught our peers’ different leadership theories.

This course is different than other college classes. It is very hands on, instead of just learning what something was we learned how to do it and then actually got to do it. I appreciated the way we were taught, and how much support we received from the TA’s. I am so lucky to have been able to take this course with my cohort. It allowed for open conversations, easy learning environment and of course a fun class period.

I learned more in this class than any other course I have taken so far. I learned how to teach, how to learn and more importantly how to lead.

Now that I have taken this course I will most definitely pursue a leadership minor. This class inspired me to follow my passion of leadership. I will take the skills that I learned from this course and use them in my RSO’s on campus and a variety of different ways back at home.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” -John Quincy Adams

 

Freshman Year Review

I hear many students around campus talking about “how fast this school year went”. I nod my head and think about how in just a short week I will be done with my first ever year of college. It went by so incredibly fast, it feels like yesterday I moved in.

Then I sit and reflect on everything that happened in such a short year and realize how much I actually went through to get where I am today. I switched my major three times, finished 35 credits, joined two organizations, accepted an eBoard position, interned at a church, switched rooms, took multiple exams, met my two best friends and found my passion all in two semesters.

 I battled depression and anxiety all while learning ways to cope with life away from home. I discovered what works for me when I am upset, and I have learned how not to get upset. I found myself. I learned that I was a different person than I was just a short nine months ago. I am stronger, more passionate and overall a more open minded person.

College changed me. Some ways good, some ways bad. I am a better listener, I care about people and their beliefs. I know what I want in my future and I have found friends that will stick by me. I have learned to take naps anywhere, and I have gained the confidence to go to class before even getting ready. I have also learned that the stress of college WILL make you gain weight no matter how much you work out and eat healthily. College will make you fatter no matter how much you try for it not to. 

Something that I realized pretty early on, is how much I value my friendships at home. The people that I surrounded myself with at home, are people that I still love and cherish just as much as my new friends. I appreciate them so much. They listened to me cry, came and visited me and reminded me that home isn’t so far away when you stay in touch with the people that matter. My friends from home are my rocks. They have supported me in everything I have done and I cannot thank them enough.

All in all, this year in total sparked many emotions. I now appreciate my parents and family so much more. I live every day in the moment and I have met the two most amazing women that I know will be forever friends. I value life and family and friendships.

I also learned that college sucks. It is a phrase that every college student has mumbled at least once under their breath. College sucks, but it is also the most amazing thing at the same time. It is different, it is challenging but it is also rewarding. The late nights studying almost ruined me, the early mornings were not my favorite, the cafeteria food could have been better, some people I met were strange, not all of my professors knew my name and there are no adults around to rescue you. It is the transitional period from adolescence to a real live adult.

BUT I MADE IT. I really did. I received mostly A’s and am still on track to graduate! WOW, who would have thought? Life could not get any better than it is right now. I appreciate everything my parents, friends, and advisors did to get me where I am today. I look back to just 5 months ago where I was considering dropping out and all these people helped make sure that I made it. I owe everything to them.

This year is one I will NEVER forget. I have found who I truly want to be. I cannot wait for the three amazing years and endless opportunities ahead of me. 

 

 

Servant Leadership in LAS Protocol

The definition of servant leadership according to Robert K. Greenleaf,  is a philosophy and set of practices that enrich the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world. “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.” -Robert K. Greenleaf.

Servant leadership appears in our LAS protocol in a variety of different ways.

The first way it appears is the protocol of having to receive thirty or more service hours per year. This is servant leadership because it is volunteering to help someone or an organization in a positive way.  You can serve your community, organization, friends and companies.

For my thirty hours of community service, I performed a variety of different tasks. I volunteered at Relay for Life, volunteered in Flint, I made blankets for a women’s shelter, I helped organized donated books for the Philippines, I made valentines day cards for a nursing home, I made lunches for homeless children and I volunteered at Potter’s House. Servant Leadership is supposed to enrich the lives of others around you. I have continuously pushed myself to help others on and off campus. This LAS protocol helped me push myself even further. Servant Leadership, in my opinion, is about dedicating time to help others in a positive way. I observed my cohort around me volunteering in so many different ways, we made in impact on so many people. The protocol of having to get 30 hours of community service hours encourage everyone in LAS to perform servant leadership.

Anther one of my favorite protocols for LAS is the service trip to Detroit. We are required to travel to Detroit with the Leadership institute to perform a multitude of different tasks to help the city. On the last day, we traveled to CASS Social Services to volunteer. We were all separated into different groups, some were in the kitchen making food for the homeless, some helped make mats out of recycled tires etc. It was the perfect application of servant leadership because we all contributed to a cause that would affect the city of Detroit in a positive way.

The Servant Leadership theory portrays itself in so many different ways. Anyone can be a servant leader.  It takes time, dedication and passion for what you are doing. There are a multitude of different real life applications that are considered servant leadership. The Leadership Advancement Scholarship does a fantastic job encouraging their students to dedicate their time to a good cause. Receiving 30 hours of community service and the Detroit Trip are just a few ways that the LAS cohort show servant leadership. There are so many other ways that we as students use servant leadership in our everyday life without being directed by our protocol. Servant Leadership, in my opinion, is the most important leadership theory known today. Serving others without pay or reward shows an immense amount of character. I am so lucky to be a part of a scholarship that expects us to apply servant leadership to our everyday lives.

Mentor Reflection

As a new freshman, life on campus can be hectic. I remember the feeling of not knowing anyone as I walked around campus. I remember not knowing where I was on campus. It is a terrible thing. The one thing that allowed for me to transition into college as well as I did was my mentor.

As an incoming freshman in the Leadership Advancement Scholarship, you are paired up with a sophomore mentor. I was blessed to have an amazing mentor my freshman year. I learned so much from her, and I cannot wait to be able to mentor someone next year and give them the same knowledge that I received.

To prepare us to be a mentor, our LDR 200 class participated in a Mentor Workshop. I had ideas of what I needed to do, however, after the workshop, I had a better idea of what being a mentor entailed. I am prepared to listen to my mentee, and I am prepared to dedicate time to them all year.

I am looking forward to having a mentee so that I can teach them things going into college that I wish I would’ve known. It is such a scary process, and going into it alone can make it worse. I am looking forward to teaching them, however, also learning from them. Being a mentor is such an amazing way to learn about yourself. I will be such a great example for my mentee, and I will push myself even further to be the best student and role model I can be.

I am preparing myself to be a mentor in a variety of different ways. Not only am I taking pictures of my current dorm room now to share with my mentee but I am already thinking about important facts and tips that I can share with them. I am also preparing myself by talking about how I am going to treat my mentee with others. I want the people around me to hold me accountable. I want to be the best mentor and role model possible.

Now that I have gone through the mentor workshop I have discovered things that I need to work on. Before next year I want to stay in touch with my mentee and provide support throughout the summer. I also will introduce him/her to other mentors that can provide them help as well. I cannot wait to give someone the gift that I received last year. The gift of friendship, love, and guidance.