Rise to the Top

Fri, 16 Feb 2018 13:15:18 -0500

Holding a student leadership position provides you with a “spotlight” opportunity to make a meaningful impact within a UMBC student organization or group.

Here are four, simple and important reasons why you should be a leader at UMBC:

1. You can gain valuable life and professional experience.

If you managed the Student Events Board (SEB) budget, that is absolutely experience that will help you manage other budgets in the future, in your personal and professional life.

2. You get to practice and hone interpersonal skills in a low-risk scenario.

Leading the UMBC Cricket Club requires the same diplomacy, negotiating and communication skills as leading a staff out in the “real world,” but making mistakes has smaller consequences.

3. You get to test out potential roles for your future.

People who love doing technical stage management in college theater productions may decide to pursue this role as a career. A student who is the social media manager for a large student organization may find a job using this skill in the future. A student who thrives on editing the campus literary magazine (Bartleby) or research journal (UMBC Review) may choose a career in publishing.

4. You have something meaningful and weighty to put on your resume.

Would you want to hire someone who had been the founder of an Engineers without Borders chapter at UMBC? Would you view a role as President of the Students for Environmental Awareness as relevant to an entry-level position at the Environmental Protection Agency?

And if those reasons are not enough for you, consider these:

Additional Reasons to be a Student Leader

You make a lot of friends and are bound to make great college memories!

UMBC may pay to send you to a conference in Las Vegas, Boston, or elsewhere.

There are some paid student leader positions on campus.

You may have an actual office to hang out in on campus.

In Closing: A Small Cautionary Note

Some student leaders take on more than they can handle and their academic performance sags. Consider taking a lighter course load if you are in a big student leadership role on campus. You can make up the credits in a Winter or Summer session.

Sample UMBC Student Leadership Resources & Links:

O-Team – Application Due February 21, 2018

Leadership Development

Fraternity and Sorority

Student Orgs

Diversity and Inclusion

Service and Volunteerism

Breaking Ground