*Intramural Floor Hockey
-Every spring my fraternity brothers and I take part in the various intramural sports taking place on campus. Among these, floor hockey is one I particularly enjoy and excel at. Having played hockey since the age of 12, I was one of the few players who had experience with the game. Playing on an intramural team not only helped me to develop teamwork skills, it re-instilled and required leadership skills. For the first few games, we just went out and played without any sort of plan. Eventually we realized we would need some type of strategic plan if we wanted to win a game. That is when I had to step up and become "coach." I watched the guys play and accessed each player's strenghs and weaknesses then figured out who would play best with who in order for us to win games as a unit. I usually do not like to take leadership roles in group settings, but do take it on when I feel that it is necessary for me to do so. Floor hockey re-instilled the leadership skills I posessed by forcing me to rely on past experience(s) to take on the coach role for the team.
*Society of Women Engineers
-Most people are under the assumption that only women can join the Society of Women Engineers, however, this is not true. As a requirement to become a member of Sigma Chi, one had to be in at least one club on campus. There were many choices for me, but I chose to join this club because I knew people who were already members, and because I was an engineer major at the time, I thought it would be a good idea for me to get to know the women engineers on campus. Needless to say, not too many males were present in this club so I was one of the guys who became the voice for the males in the group. This club required me to utilize my leadership skills without taking on an official leadership position. For example, at meetings, members would discuss and brainstorm various fundraising ideas and some would be gender specific. The males in the group would raise an eyebrow to each other with frightened looks on their faces, yet nobody would speak up. I took it upon myself to represent the male views and presented other perspectives to the entire group.
*Sigma Chi Fraternity
-As I went through life and experienced various obstacles life threw my way, I was able to develop skills to become a leader in different situations. However, being a member of Sigma Chi has transended me into a new paradigm of leadership and management. Not only have I been able to learn leadership through observation and social interactions within and outside the group, as the Brotherhood Chair for 2003-2004, I have been blessed enough to experience both the pros and cons of being a leader through trial and error. There have been many times when I thought I was being an effective leader for the group by handling a situation a certain way, but was quickly brought back down to reality when it was pointed out that I was not doing my job properly. I had to try different methods and use different strategies in order to become a more well respected, effective leader for the group. I have learned and realized the value of time management not just for my group, but for my personal life as well. Sigma Chi has enabled me to learn, develop, and implement leadership skills not only within the fraternity, but outside the greek life as well.
