Being fortunate enough to be accepted to The Ohio State University, I first had to come to terms with the insanity of it all.  For me, it was my first time being away from home and my first time needing to share a living space with someone.  Not to mention a campus that’s over 1,500 acres and placed in the middle of a booming city.  However, probably the hardest change was being surrounded by peers who are all incredibly talented and well-rounded.  As I made my trip to Columbus this August, I was simply hopeful that I could somehow find my niche among 66,000 of the brightest minds of our generation.

In grade school, I was always an achiever.  I strived to be the best that I could be in everything I did.  Coming to college, that was no different.  I moved in early with the Mount Leadership Society Scholars program and I was ecstatic to begin my journey as a Buckeye.  Within my Scholars program, I joined a committee right off the bat.  The Leadership Training Committee organizes various events throughout the year.  Last semester, we ran Leadership Month and a public speaking seminar.  The purpose of these events is to allow Mount Scholars to take an active role in improving their leadership while learning about their peers’ leadership styles.  As well as that, Mount runs a program called Legacy Week.  For this program, Mount Scholars are divided into six teams: Team Global, Team Education, Team Poverty, Team Health, Team Abuse, and Team Environment.  By working in our individual teams, our end goal is to serve the community that correlates to the team we have been assigned to.  Again, in pursuit of becoming a better leader and being active in everything I do, I applied for the role of Team Captain for Legacy Week.  For the past two and a half months, I have tirelessly worked among my fellow captains of Team Global, my Mount peers, upperclass Mount advisors, and the director of Mount Leadership Society Scholars to ensure that all of our Legacy Week projects go well and make a difference for the communities that we are serving.  After a month or so of planning for Legacy Week, each team voted on four people to attend an honorary dinner for those who showed stellar leadership and dedication to their team.  I was fortunate enough to have been voted to attend the dinner and to celebrate my peers’ and my contribution to our individual teams.

Being a member of the Mount Leadership Society had already taught me a lot about myself as an individual and a leader over the course of four months.  Last semester, all of the pieces seemed to be falling into place.  However, I faced a major setback to my plans, and it made me reconsider a lot about my college experience; including my major.  Early last semester, I set out to rush two business fraternities.  I attended all of the rush events with a great enthusiasm for the organizations, the people, the philanthropy, and growing in my business career.  I loved everything about rushing Delta Sigma Pi and Phi Chi Theta.  After the interviews, I felt confident.  Unfortunately, I was later informed that I had not been chosen for recruitment for either of the fraternities.  What I didn’t realize at the time was how rewarding that failure would be for me later on.  Nobody wishes for failure, but I believe that it is essential to one’s growth.  Mistakes are not the problem, not taking the opportunity to learn from them is.  I used my previous business fraternity “failure” to fuel me.  As a result of not being admitted into the fraternities, I chose to delve further into my business pursuits.  I joined the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association in effort to be around women and professionals that encourage me to be as successful as I can be.  Later in that organization, I applied to be an author and editor of the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association blog.  The blog details achievements made by women in business and also informs members of how to increase their professionalism through things like resume building.  Another medium that I utilized to develop myself as an aspiring professional was the Columbus Blue Jackets Sports Management Night.  The event gave college students the opportunity to tour Nationwide Arena and meet with a panel of executives for the Blue Jackets.  This behind the scenes look afforded me the chance to engage in networking and intentional conversation with the executive board.  I am planning on using this networking to further my professional connections and to grow as a leader going forward.

As a result of my previous challenges, I analyzed my personal shortcomings in an effort to develop as a leader and a professional.  Despite my setbacks, I have engaged in other avenues that have provided me with experiences to learn and grow as an individual.  And so I go forth to continue my journey…