Honors Student Council
Secretary 2016-2017
Being a part of the Honors Student Council has reinforced my philosophy of leadership. I had been apart of the council since my freshman year, but took up a leadership role my junior year. It allowed me to help make executive decisions with a small group of people after taking those decisions to the rest of the honors students. HSC has monthly meetings, first with the small executive board, then with honors students, and there is a service component each month. We made fleece hats to donate, raked leaves in the Mankato community, and made valentines for an assisted living. The Honors Student Council not only focuses on making the campus a more inclusive space but also on reaching out to the Mankato community.
The executive board, for example, worked together on many service events throughout the year to get Honors students involved with the program and with each other. One of my favorite events was doing Rake the Town. There were many little steps to this process, such as contacting VINE, organizing who would drive where and when, how we would get enough rakes, and how to get more people involved. I went to VINE with Steven Arriaza to pick up the rakes, as we delegated out these tasks to multiple individuals. By having one person focus on the event as a whole and delegate smaller tasks out, we worked as a group to reach our goal: raking the lawns of several homes in the Mankato area. Residents were so appreciative of the simple gesture, and we had fun as a team! We had to put on our thinking caps to get all those leaves to the curb, using a table cloth, giant duffle bag, and a small garbage can to haul A LOT of leaves. By the end of the day, we were efficient (if not a little tired) leaf-rakers! This showed how things do not always go according to our plans, but through adjustments we can work together to reach our goals.
Being flexible was important during other times this year for HSC. Another example was when we had to cancel a monthly meeting due to a broken window in the Honors lounge. Earlier in the year, we had to cancel a service event because our speaker unfortunately was ill. But, we found other dates or events and kept in communication with all those involved. As the position of secretary, I have improved my communication skills with others, reaching out to a large audience. I was responsible for keeping the HSC executive board meeting minutes posted promptly after our meetings, as well as letting Honors students know of what we discussed at monthly HSC meetings by posting meeting notes in the lounge. I have enjoyed interacting with other students this semester and meeting some new people. Being in the office as the Student Activities Director has also impacted my role as the secretary for HSC, as getting out the word about different events is part of both positions.
This year, I plan to continue attending Honors Student Council meetings and attending the service events when I am still on campus in the fall. I feel more apart of HSC now since I served on the board last year. I will also pass my knowledge of being secretary on to the next secretary.
The executive board, for example, worked together on many service events throughout the year to get Honors students involved with the program and with each other. One of my favorite events was doing Rake the Town. There were many little steps to this process, such as contacting VINE, organizing who would drive where and when, how we would get enough rakes, and how to get more people involved. I went to VINE with Steven Arriaza to pick up the rakes, as we delegated out these tasks to multiple individuals. By having one person focus on the event as a whole and delegate smaller tasks out, we worked as a group to reach our goal: raking the lawns of several homes in the Mankato area. Residents were so appreciative of the simple gesture, and we had fun as a team! We had to put on our thinking caps to get all those leaves to the curb, using a table cloth, giant duffle bag, and a small garbage can to haul A LOT of leaves. By the end of the day, we were efficient (if not a little tired) leaf-rakers! This showed how things do not always go according to our plans, but through adjustments we can work together to reach our goals.
Being flexible was important during other times this year for HSC. Another example was when we had to cancel a monthly meeting due to a broken window in the Honors lounge. Earlier in the year, we had to cancel a service event because our speaker unfortunately was ill. But, we found other dates or events and kept in communication with all those involved. As the position of secretary, I have improved my communication skills with others, reaching out to a large audience. I was responsible for keeping the HSC executive board meeting minutes posted promptly after our meetings, as well as letting Honors students know of what we discussed at monthly HSC meetings by posting meeting notes in the lounge. I have enjoyed interacting with other students this semester and meeting some new people. Being in the office as the Student Activities Director has also impacted my role as the secretary for HSC, as getting out the word about different events is part of both positions.
This year, I plan to continue attending Honors Student Council meetings and attending the service events when I am still on campus in the fall. I feel more apart of HSC now since I served on the board last year. I will also pass my knowledge of being secretary on to the next secretary.