Kappa Mu Epsilon

KME Members celebrating Pi Day

One registered student organization that I’ve had the opportunity to join this year is Kappa Mu Epsilon, a mathematics honor society on CMU’s campus. I first heard about KME when Some of my fellow math classmates told me about the club’s first meeting in September. Being a math major and someone who loves the field of mathematics, I was excited to attend the first meeting and see what KME was all about.

After attending a few meetings in the fall, I quickly discovered that KME was a great place for me as a future high school math teacher. At our meetings, KME invites guest speakers, math game nights, movie nights, workshops, and professional development opportunities. Additionally, KME provides ample community service opportunities including our club providing free math tutoring to students on the Friday before finals week every semester.

By joining KME, I have not only expanded my mathematical knowledge on countless topics but I also have gained valuable connections with faculty, students, and future colleagues that have better prepared me for my future career.

LDR 200L: Introduction to Leadership

When I found out part of LAS Protocol was to take a three credit leadership course with my fellow LAS-ers, I couldn’t have been more excited. Although I had taken Student Leadership classes throughout high school and have been to countless camps, trainings, and workshops, I was excited to gain new college-level perspectives on leadership.

One of my favorite parts of this course, besides bonding over weekly snacks and Wednesday night dinners at the Robinson cafeteria after class, was learning more in depth about what researchers say leadership is.

Though learning about theories for three hours straight may sound boring, the way the material was presented in this course was a breath of fresh air; we were put into groups and were assigned to create an interactive workshop about the theory and how it is relevant to our lives as college students. By learning through this format, it was easy to understand complex theories and apply them to our everyday lives.

Also, there are some pretty neat aspects of this course that are unlike any other college class I’ve ever taken that I will apply to my future classroom one day:

• A warm, welcoming classroom environment
• Powerpoint presentations that don’t have 8,233,936 words on one slide
• Funny, but relevant, videos
• A genuine care for the success of all students
• Lively, engaging lectures and activities
• Self-reflection
• and so much more

I still have about a month left in LDR 200L, thankfully. In this last month I’m excited to:

• Receive my own mentee ❤
• Present my workshop on The Social Change Model
• Travel to Detroit, Michigan and volunteer with my cohort
• Continue to develop as a leader and learn more about how others perceive leadership

 

Lead Team: Competition Day

This school year I had the opportunity to serve on the Lead Team for Competition Day. Every year, this Lead Team is made up of Leader Advancement Scholars who have completely plan every aspect of Competition Day for incoming freshmen from the moment the finalists arrive on campus to the moment they leave.

When I first found out I was chosen to be part of this Lead Team, I was ecstatic, after all, this was my first choice. I really felt that some of my strengths such as being organized and good at planning would be well utilized. Also, I thought it would be cool to plan Competition Day, a day that helped me fall in love with CMU and the Leadership Institute just one short year ago. 

I enjoyed being part of this lead team, I really did. However, I didn’t feel like I was able to contribute as much as I would’ve liked to. We only had one meeting and at that meeting every detail of Competition Day had already been planned by the chairs. The only contribution I felt I made was just a small task of letting potential LAS-ers see my room.

Even though I wasn’t able to contribute a whole lot to my lead team, I was very grateful for the opportunity to serve on a Lead Team and I can’t wait to serve on another lead team in the future.