We are always meeting student leaders who are going the extra mile to make others feel welcome and build community culture on their campuses. We realized that one great way to learn from each other is to spotlight different students who have made an impact on the lives of their fellow students.
Meet CJ Stevens, a student at Randolph College. He’s a Sports and Exercise Studies major and the SAAC President and Student Government Senator on campus. We asked him about the the things he loves on campus and how he gets involved.
What was the first moment you felt like you belonged at your school?
For me it was when I joined the soccer team in preseason my first year. When I visited I really liked the school, the team, and the academics, but I still didn’t know enough about what I was getting myself into. Choosing to play soccer at Randolph was the best decision I’ve ever made. I was still trying to figure a lot of things out as a first year and the team became my family. Being in an environment full of love and passion is what I had been searching for. My team helped me feel at home.
What’s one time you went from meh to hmm on your campus?
My first year I wasn’t excited about getting involved with things outside of playing soccer and hanging out with my friends, but I was always interested in doing more. I wanted to play a more important role on campus and not just skate by. As a first-year, though, I was a little intimidated by getting involved and wasn’t sure how to get involved. My sophomore year rolled around and I knew I wanted to be more involved but still wasn’t sure how. One of our captains was the President of our school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and asked if I would be interested in joining the group to be one of the representatives for our soccer team. Right away I was very excited about the opportunity but hesitated to say yes because it wasn’t something I had ever done before. Eventually I accepted the offer and now I am President of our group. If my captain had never approached me about the opportunity, then I may not be where I am today. So you never know how just reaching out to people to get more engaged can really impact them.
What events do you think create the most connections?
Events that foster relationships can have great impact. Allowing people to come out of their comfort zone and get to know other people on a more personal level and grow can be very influential. I went to the Student-Athlete NCAA Leadership Forum this past weekend and it was life changing! Some of the stuff we discussed was very similar to what Tom presented. The environment there was one where we had to get out of our comfort zone and almost become vulnerable to those around us. It allowed everyone to get to know everyone else on a different level which helped with making connections.
It’s great when others encourage you to get involved. Has someone ever influenced your involvement on campus?
