MEINIG FAMILY CORNELL NATIONAL SCHOLARS
EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARD
Allison Wainstock
Human Ecology '06
Vice President of Member Education
Throughout this current semester, I have had the privilege of serving as a role model and mother figure to 42 girls. As Vice President of member education within my sorority, I took on the immense responsibility of not only teaching, but also comforting, guiding, and leading the new members that recently joined the organization. While I intended to educate the new members of the sorority on the formal policies, rules, values, and traditions of my sorority, I found the past year to be both a learning and growing experience for myself as well.
I initially assumed the position as Vice President of member education in January of this year. My first step was to create an original "new member pursuit plan," which was a basic outline with which I could instruct the new members and ensure that I fulfill all of my desired goals. The plan was divided by weeks, with a different educational focus and various activities planned for each week. Meetings were held every Sunday since the end of January through early April, which were primarily educational. During these meetings, I focused on the history and traditions of the sorority, the responsibilities and expectations of the new members and their personal growth and development. I attempted to instill pride among the girls and encouraged both on campus and community leadership through the sorority. Additional activities were also held on Tuesday evenings to further educate, promote well-awareness, continue tradition, and to encourage bonding among the new members. For instance, I organized a small activities fair among members of all the classes within my sorority. My goal in doing so was to inform the new members of the diverse selection of activities and organizations available here at Cornell, spark their interests, and encourage them to become more active within the Cornell community.
My role as Vice President of member education has given me an opportunity to instill the importance of the organization to me within the new members of the sorority. While the fundamental principles of the organization include personal integrity, responsibility intellectual honesty, I value those principles highly and I wanted to inculcate them in others. For that reason, I worked to promote the educational and cultural interests of the new members, create in them a real sense of social responsibility, and to develop in them good qualities of character through proper ethics and values.
This experience has provided me with lifelong knowledge and vital leadership skills. I have been able to improve my organization skills through the coordination of several large events such as bid night and big/little revealing. My goal for each of the events was to plan a fun evening that promoted growth and communication through team building activities. The challenge was that I had to minimize expenses and stay within a rather tight budget, while coordinating events that were still engaging. With a great deal of hard work and dedication to my job, both events were successful.
I have also improved on my ability to work and communicate with a large group of individuals. As a leader, my goal is not to dictate, but rather, to work compatibly with others. I feel it is important, especially when working with a large group and making decisions, to hear the voices of all, listen to them, and heed advice. Therefore, I strive to give everyone an opportunity to contribute to the ultimate decisions that are made. I look forward to my remaining term as Vice President of member education, which ends in December of 2004. Most importantly, I feel fortunate to have had this remarkable growing experience, and I only hope the new members of my sorority gained as much as I feel that I have.
