After I finished up a crazy 14 months as Theta Nu’s VP-Standards, I finally had a chance to take a second and reflect on my past term. The VP-S role is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the chapter. This includes things like holding standards meetings, serving as risk manager, and planning an occasional formal or two. I absolutely loved being VP-Standards, but to give some context, nothing about my term was “normal”. I was elected in a special election and ended in a pandemic, that is about all you need to know. The in-between parts were just as crazy but there isn’t enough time in a day for me to recap all of it. Maybe one day I’ll publish a novel about it. Jk we love confidentiality, so a lot of my term I can’t talk about and remains a mystery to everyone else but trust me when I say it was WILD.
Through all the good and the bad, I have probably learned more in the past 14 months than I have in the past few years. So, I wanted to share with you my top lessons I have learned from this past term. If this helps you great, if not, oh well.
Be prepared for anything. Late night phone calls, emergency council meetings, COVID situations, anything really was a normal day as VP-S. You never know what tomorrow will look like, but if you prepare and are confident in your experience and abilities, nothing will phase you. Within 24 hours last March, I went from announcing spring formal at our chapter meeting to calling nationals trying to figure out how to run the chapter from across the country when we switched to online classes after spring break.
Pick your battles. You choose which hills you die on, make sure they are worth it. Along the same lines, not every road bump is the end of the world, so don’t stress the small stuff.
You earn respect by giving respect. You are not better than anyone else and the only way to truly earn the respect of the chapter is showing them the respect that you wish in return. After all, a leader is there to serve the rest of the group.
Go the extra mile. You can always find a way to make something happen if you put enough time and energy into it. If you know me you know I have a lot on my plate, but I always took the extra time to ensure I was doing things right which paid off immensely for our chapter.
No matter how well you think you are communicating, you’re not. You will always have to send at least 2 reminder GroupMe messages and will still get questions. Always.
Surround yourself with people who will support you. I was extremely lucky with who I surrounded myself with. My friends always knew what I needed before I even did and were willing to help out with whatever I needed. Having a good support system in your friends or other council members will make things 10x easier.
These are lessons I know I will be able to use in my future career and am so thankful I had the opportunity to learn them as VP-S. I encourage everyone to apply for a leadership position inside or out of their sorority because it truly will teach you a lot about yourself, how to work with others, and how to be a leader.
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