During the fall semester of my freshman year, I decided to join the Pre-Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Club (Pre-PT/OT Club) in order to meet people with similar interests, participate in activities and events related to my future career, and be a positive influence both on and off campus. I attend the club's monthly meetings on a regular basis and took part in as many events as my schedule allowed. At the end of my freshman year, I was elected secretary of the club for the 2017-2018 school year. This position increased my leadership skills by being involved in activities such as contributing to the planning of bi-weekly club meetings, interacting with club members at meetings while being a reliable, knowledgeable resource, and organizing communication within the club and the board members. At the end of my sophomore year, I was elected President of the club for the 2018-2019 academic year and was reelected for the 2019-2020 academic year. This role held several responsibilities and has made me realize just how powerful being a leader truly is, especially when in the highest power. My leadership skills greatly grew during this experience by learning how to cooperate with those of different work ethics and perspectives than my own, recognizing the importance of communication, especially within the executive board, and experiencing the challenge of increasing membership and involvement of others within the club, no matter my efforts. Below is the link to the club constitution, which guides our actions as a recognized student organization (RSO) on campus.
Events: Title: Club Meetings Date: Various (freshman year) Time Involved: 10 hours Throughout the numerous semesters of my undergraduate career, I attended, and even led, numerous Pre-PT/OT Club meetings. During these meetings, we discussed volunteer opportunities and any business materials for the first few minutes, and then dived into physical/occupational therapy related topics. For instance, one meeting discussed how to apply to PT/OT schools through the PTCAS and OTCAS systems. Another meeting talked about the different PT/OT schools within the United States and their specific requirements. I believe these meetings were extremely helpful in preparing myself for the future by learning things I needed to accomplish while in my undergraduate career to have the highest chance of being accepted into physical therapy school. It was also great to meet others pre-physical therapy students and build lasting friendships through the club.
Title: Kiwanis Holiday Lights Date: 11/5/16 Time Involved: 3 hours This event took place in Sibley Park on a early Saturday morning. For this being my first event with the Pre-PT/OT Club, I was quite anxious on what I would be doing and how it would all occur. My nerves quickly vanished when I realized that I would be working with over 100 pleasant, generous community members that would guide me in what to do. I, along with five other young women, were put in charge of switching the non-working string of lights with working lights. This involved testing each individual string, clipping and untying the lights, and adding new lights by zip tying. Although this was a very tedious process, I truly felt like I was being productive and helpful in this big project that would end with a wonderful Christmas light display. I learned that once I am given directions, I am determined to do a great job while guiding others in the same path. In this particular event, I was often working the hardest and kindly informing others on how we could work together as a team to be successful. I applied my responsibility and achiever strengths to complete the job in an efficient and correct manner.
Title: Rake the Town Date: 11/12/16 Time Involved: 2 hours This campus-wide event involved raking leaves of community members' lawns for those who needed the extra help. Each organization on campus that chose to participate was assigned specific homes, and I decided to volunteer through the Pre-PT/OT Club. I was accompanied by seven other club members, and we were assigned two large yards. Working together as a team, we each raked up piles of leaves individually and moved them to a central location to place them in large garbage bags. It was a fun experience to directly work with members of the club while being productive and giving back to the community. By each of us doing our part correctly and being willing to work together, the task was completed smoothly and quickly.
Title: Campus Fair Date: 09/06/17, 09/05/2018, 09/04/2019 Time Involved: 6 hours As an executive board member of the Pre-PT/OT Club, I had the duty of recruiting people into our club at the campus-wide fair that recognizes student clubs and allows them to reach out to the student body. I sat at a designated table in the union and answered any questions students had about the club. If they were interested, I collected their contact information and put them on the email list. I talked to several different individuals during these two hour time slots, and it was great to connect with other students that share similar interests.
Title: Echo Food Shelf Mini-Mini Marathon Date: 09/16/17 Time Involved: 2.5 hours This event at the Echo Food Shelf was a 0.262 walk/race open to the entire Mankato community. There was about 30 participants present, and the event consisted of the walk/run, prizes, and carnival-type games, like bean bags and a dunk tank. As a volunteer, I helped set up the games, ran with two little children during the short race, handed out water to the participants, and ran the bowling pin game. I enjoyed being a part of this experience, for it was a great way to show the community we care and support them since we were the only college students present. It was a wonderful opportunity to do something small to show the town and its people that we want to give back to them.
Time: Echo Food Shelf Thanksgiving Basket Distribution Date: 11/17/16, 11/15/18 Time Involved: 10 hours This event at the Echo Food Shelf was an annual event that consisted of creating food baskets for the Thanksgiving holiday for individuals with low income who needed the extra help. Community members checked in with the Echo Food Shelf employees and then went waited in line for us volunteers to stack their bags full of food including ham or turkey, pie, stuffing, vegetables, fruit, and many other delicious items collected by the food pantry. There was a steady rate of individuals throughout the afternoon, which made me realize how important this event was for many people and the need to feed our community. Although Mankato isn't an overly large town, there are still many people who cannot afford food and rely on the food pantry to feed their families. It was important for me to recognize this and know how blessed I am to help these individuals and be a light in their darkness even if it was in a very small way.