Taking the Lead
When you come into your senior year at Arcadia, you’ll likely have more opportunities for leadership positions. Of course being a club or organization leader isn’t limited to your senior year, but your previous years of experience will help prepare you for bigger responsibilities. Having held some leadership positions myself, including co-President of ArcadiaFTK and Treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta, here is some advice to help you get the best of your experience and feel less intimidated when things get a little hectic.
The most daunting aspect is always time management. As a senior, you’ll be trying to fit a lot into your schedule: classes and assignments, maybe an internship, your thesis or capstone, graduation requirements, clubs, sports, work, and hopefully some time to eat, sleep, and socialize. Having the added responsibility of maintaining a club might not seem like something you have time for, but it is possible and worth it! Keeping yourself organized and staying on top of papers and assignments, even getting ahead where you can, will relieve some of that regular stress. Write club time into your schedule and you’ll find leadership doesn’t take that much more.
Besides, someone who wants to take on a leadership position is usually passionate about what they’ll be doing. I became co-President for the student organization Arcadia For The Kids because I cared about the club’s cause. ArcadiaFTK hosts fundraisers that benefit the Four Diamonds Fund, which supports children with pediatric cancer and their families. Kids are the most imaginative and creative among us. I believe no terminal illness should stop them from chasing their dreams. Leading this club doesn’t feel like extra work for me. It’s been enjoyable. As co-President, I’ve been communicating with our representative employee from Four Diamonds to tie our work back to the organization and coordinate our donations. I also have been working with different communities within Arcadia, like the athletics department and public safety, to organize events for students. There’s also outside communication with vendors to create club apparel for everyone and with local restaurants to put together dine-and-donate fundraisers. One perk of leadership is that I have plenty of practice with professional emails.
But most importantly, I’m proud of what our team accomplishes together. Our first two years of fundraising raised over $15,000 for our cause. With support from the student body, we surpassed the $5,000 goal each year. We’re confident that this year’s goal of $6,500 will be far surpassed again. I look forward to getting to lead such a great team for even greater victories.
Beyond the specific tasks of your club, as a club president there are some bigger expectations of you. We have the responsibility to represent the school at different events, like Homecoming Weekend, Scarlet and Gray days, and Open Houses. We attend the Student Government meetings. And you’ll have more interactions with administration and marketing staff members. You can also expect to be sending a lot of emails. And you’ll be the go-to person for members of your club.
Good leadership also means delegating and reaching out to others for help, too. Sharing the decision-making can help relieve some pressure on you and you show good leadership when you prepare others for the opportunity. The ArcadiaFTK team does this constantly. We collaborate to make sure club activities are well-planned and inclusive. Everyone should feel like they’re a part of the organization, not just following behind.
If anything, taking on the extra responsibility has helped me get better control of my workload. It’s the motivation I needed to learn how to prioritize tasks and get them done in a timely manner. I would encourage you to take the leap and see where you and your team can go!
