Work Story

At this point in my life, I am very blessed to have experienced many career, work,
internship, leadership, and educational opportunities. These experiences have helped foster
learning environments, and develop skill sets and strengths that will be valuable in the
professional workplace. Certain experiences have had more of an impact on my career
development than can be explained on a resume.
Serving as President of my fraternity has been a very challenging yet valuable and
rewarding journey. It has provided scenarios, conflicts, and leadership opportunities that are
hard to find in other experiences. As president, there are certain tasks and projects that must be
completed, but there is also a leadership aspect that requires the ability to motivate, challenge,
resolve conflict, and communicate a message to a 70 + member organization. I have worked
with college aged brothers, to school officials, all the way up to 60 - 70 year old alumni and the
fraternitys headquarters employees. A stressful role, this position takes up a large portion of my
time, and may require strenuous amounts of effort at unexpected times. At times it has posed
much adversity that is challenging to overcome. To put it simply this position has provided me
with lessons, experiences, and skills that I will use throughout the rest of my life and not just in a
professional setting.
An orientation leader position is highly competitive at Virginia Tech, something that
outsiders probably would not realize. Over 200 apply and only 24 are selected, once chosen
there is semester long training, and a highly enduring month of orientation during the summer.
As an orientation leader I became very knowledgeable about the university, I was required to
have a solid grasp on the universitys principles of community, five aspirations for student
learning, and positive culture of Virginia Tech. An aspect I appreciated of this experience was
how we were challenged to try to push first-year students out of their comfort zone and adjust to
the new culture and lifestyle changes of college. I was also able to further my work-ethic through
orientation, as our role required high-energy at almost every single moment of the day, and a
work day that essential lasted 18 hours.
My educational experiences have also helped prepare me for my future professional
career. Although my focus is public relations, communication is a broad field and has provided
me with a variety of skills. As a result I hope to be able to pursue multiple job and business
opportunities. A minor in political science has given me a slight grasp of the sector of politics
and government, where forms and positions related to leadership are prevalent. I chose the
business leadership minor as I have always enjoyed and valued leadership positions, and in
learning not just experiencing leadership I hope to further myself as a leader in any scenario or
environment.