School and Year: Jamestown Community College, ’14
Major: Liberal Arts: Social Sciences with a concentration in Political Science
Leadership position: Student Senator (Public Relations Chair), Student Ambassador, Peer2Peer Mentor, and Student Blogger
How do you define leadership?
I define leadership as taking the initiative to lead, inspire, and motivate peers, family, and other members of the community to reach and exceed their own goals.
What first inspired you to be a student leader?
What inspired me to become a student leader was the passion I have for helping, inspiring, and motivating others to accomplish greater and bigger things in life. For example, as a student senator, I serve as a representative of the student body at JCC. As a Senator, I have the opportunity to assist them in whatever is that they might need to be successful at JCC, address any concerns the student body may have and find a solution to it, as well as helping our community through fundraisers, food and blood drives, and many others. On the other hand, my Peer-2-Peer mentor and Student Ambassador positions are a more individualized approach of helping students. The main goal for both of these positions is to encourage and motivate students to obtain a college education, to be a helping hand when they need one, to provide them with key information that will help them be successful in both college and personal life, and others. Last but not least, as a student blogger, I share my story as a student leader with the sole purpose to explain to students the advantages that being a leader has, the great impact you can make in, not only your school but, your community, and motivate them into becoming our future student leaders.
What is one experience (any kind) you think everyone should have?
I believe everyone should take the opportunity to experience being involved at their campus. Being involved means developing new friendships and partnerships, developing new skills (both professional and leadership skills), finding what you are most passionate about and, perhaps, this can lead you to the career path of your interest, and many others. Being involved and being student leaders is an experience that is rewarding to all in every aspect.
What was your number one take-away from DFT?
The one main thing I took away from DFT is the fact that it only takes one person to impact and make a difference in someone else’s life. If we (student leaders and college/university) want students to be more involved, we must create awareness of the opportunities they can take advantage of. That is where the “Dance Floor Theory™” comes into place.
As Tom explained, there are five types of people in the dance floor ranging from the shy person in the back against the wall to the outgoing person in the center of the dance floor. The person in the center represents anyone who is involved on campus; however, the person against the wall represents those students who do not know what to do or that do not know how to get involved.
Ultimately, the entire point of this theory is that we must come up with creative ways (such as event fillers) in order to attract students to events and clubs on campus. And, even if we do not get that one person to get involved, we must keep in mind that we made them think and consider the possibility of being involved. The intention of going out to there and interact with the student body, and tell them about the opportunities they can get by being involved through activities such as event fillers prior to a specific event on campus, can make a difference in a student’s decision.
What is your go-to happy song?
My go-to happy song varies from day to day due to the simple fact that I cannot like just one song. Because of the fact I love music, I have many go-to happy songs. However, one of my current go-to happy song is “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Even though is a bit too cheesy for my taste, I still think is a song that can cheer anyone up with its beat. 🙂
