Throughout my college career I have been placed with many opportunities and leadership roles that have helped shaped my future visions. At the age of eighteen I had a flawless five year plan that mapped out everything I wanted to accomplish within this amount of time; however, life had different plans of leading me where I am today. The leadership roles and academic journey that have brought me to the point in my life where I am have shaped me into the citizen leader I want to continue to be throughout my future endeavors. I began college as a freshmen who thought I could conquer the world in four short years. When I entered college, I attended a different university and I thought that I had positioned myself for a perfect future; however, I never knew how much I was missing until I transferred to Longwood. It was not until I began Longwood did I see the potential in myself for everything that was about to come my way.
The transition to college is one that can be extremely difficult in finding oneself, sense of purpose for present and future goals, and generating plans for what that lies ahead. Transferring from one university to another might not be the ideal plan, but for me it was the best decision I could have made. Deciding to leave my comfort zone is the exact place I found myself. The decisions I have made that have lead me to where I am could not have been accomplished without taking a leap of faith and opening new doors. As I think about who I am today and the journey I took to get here I cannot help, but reflect upon leadership roles and experiences I have encountered. When I entered my first university I felt like a small fish in a big pond, I felt that I could never find myself, I could never stand above the crowd, I could not possibly be someone everyone knew. Immediately entering my freshman year, I did not get involved and felt defeated that what I thought I wanted out of college was diminished within the first month of being in college. It was then, in that moment, I knew the only way I could change was simply by changing myself. I opened a new door, closed the old, and never looked back.
I entered Longwood eager for new opportunities that would follow within the next three years, but never did I imagine I would be where I am today. I wanted a place I could call home and I wanted a place where I would be pushed and expected to be nothing less than the best I could be. Longwood was where I left my comfort zone and begin working on becoming the best version of myself. Longwood is where I left my comfort zone and found myself. Upon entering Longwood, I immediately took interest in clubs and organizations on campus making my place known and letting myself stand out…not sit down. I joined a sorority my second semester in college and from that point forward my vision of myself as an individual and as a leader became clear. I found myself stepping up to any opportunities that came my way. I took a leadership position within my sorority immediately following the semester I joined. This past summer, I worked on campus as a Summer and Events Conference Associate working on Longwood’s campus helping the school community. Throughout my journey I have encountered many opportunities and leadership roles that placed me far from where my eighteen year-old-self imagined I would be, but exactly where I never knew I needed to be.