I am the incoming Vice-President of Phi Theta Kappa Rho Kappa Chapter of Elgin Community College and even though I did have my eye for presidency I am honored to still have a tremendous part in the chapter. I am also the Secretary of Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS).
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Past academic I was the Service Officer and was honored to be named as the Most Distinguished Officer at the International Convention.
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I have a fan, whom I consider a close friend, that would like to know what Phi Theta Kappa means to me,so here it goes.
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I was inducted in Fall 2008 but was not the active member that the chapter searches and appreciates; I was more concerned on how fast I could leave school and get to my job. Believe it or not, I will always have a competition with myself to see how fast I could get to downtown Dundee. Yes, I know lame but I had nothing else going for me. I had recently moved to the area after commuting from Belvidere to Elgin and was not familiar with the area or with the people.
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ECC had been a home for me before I started as a student due to Youth Leadership Academy (YLA). YLA had been my home away from home and definitely made ECC my comfort zone.
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My first semester of ECC, I felt quite out of place but I have always been a person of few words and few friends; it wasn't that much different from anything else that I had experience. I am the person that does love "my time".
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Second semester everything ran pretty much like the first but my hours were getting cut back and applied for ECC Student Ambassador position. This meant that I was spending more time at school which at first was a burden; however, made some time to attend club meetings.
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During my high school years, I was always involved and holding various eboard positions and when I decided to take the giant leap and choose to be the first graduating class of Belvidere North High School - it was up to us few seniors to develop clubs and organizations. So clubs participation was not new to me, but there was something missing for me at ECC. That something was a simple invitation.
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I am a member of TrIO which is a student support services organization. I had the opportunity to be invited to an annual conferece which TrIO holds and thats were I meet the OLAS Vice-President. The conference was filled with educational forums and great entertainment. At the ride back home, the OLAS VP offered me an OLAS chair position. I was a bit hesitant but decided to check it out and why not try, I had nothing else to do with my time. At the end of the conference I became the Educational Chair of OLAS.
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This first invitation was just that start of my involvement at ECC.
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Roughly about the same time Phi Theta Kappa started to creep into my daily routine. I had a co-student ambassador that was a current officer and invited me to her scholarship events.
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I went the meetings and to events that caught my interst; it was an advantage to know three of the officers, three officers that I considered to be good friends. When I heard that there were opening up for officer applications - I was not the ones that immediately jumped. I was not a big fan of certain things that the organization did because it seemed to me to be a bit to one-sided and not diverse, unlike OLAS. I wanted to be part of something that was worth my time and Phi Theta Kappa just didnt appeal that way. However, I came to know that I was wrong.
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I attend Tocar Y Luchar event which I was one of three recipients to tickets to a Venezulan Symphony COncert. The two other recipients were the two fellow student ambassadors and current officers. This opportunity was great - the current offiers explained what they did and how the organization ran and with the excitement of the concert I decided to apply for an officer position.
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I applied for Scholarship and Service Officer with a abig interest in Scholarship. The interview came and I was a bit concerned since first, I did not know what I might just gotten myself into and second, I wasnt sure that I was the kind of person they wanted on the officer team.
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To my surprise I recieve a call congratulating me for the Service Officer Position. I did my research on the position and was quite excited on the community service and service initiative. I have always had an interest in environmental topics and this was mym opportunity to explore more into that and also work with the elgin community organizations giving my an insight on how this town worked.
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I came in wanting to start off at the first meeting; I wanted to show that potential that many do not get to see or allow themselves to see.
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The new academic year started and felt comfortable as the Student Ambassador, Service Officer and Educational Chair of two organizations that had a mission in which I was proud to hold. I was hungry for involvement and wanted to be involved in as many clubs and organizations; however, I was given a halt and couple of ultimatiums if I did so. I decided to ignore them and became Youth Leadership Academy Student Board Member, United Student Of All Cultures Treasuer, and an international student mentor.
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The academic year has been a one jam packed year but I enjoyed every second even with some let downs and downfalls.
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OLAS was the organization in which I found a family; I barely see my family since I do not have the luxury to live with them. OLAS formed a family in which I could count on every single member and there were no sad moments or drama. Of course, we had our little arguments here and there but what family does not. I love OLAS and would not trade any experience with all I have learned. OLAS to me is the part of ECC that advocated diversity but at the same time organized educaitonal programming to inform the community of the issues that affect ECC and its community. I have created great friendships with the members. They have learned to accept all of thier members and appreciate for all thier input and qualities that strengthened the organization. I enjoy being a member of OLAS, and even though that I am not guaranteed to recieve any recognition or any honors for being a part of OLAS it is the organization that does what its mission states and does a wonderful job at it.
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Phi Theta Kappa is an international honor society of tow-year community colleges. As service officer, I was able to do what I do best plan events. I have an interest in eevnt planning at thsi officer position developed all those hidden skills within me. I love to volunteer, and having the opportunity to develop community service events that others will be able to volunteer was a satisfication within itself. Learning of ways to improve our environment had to be an eye opener not only for me but for all those members that decided to attend service events. I was not the most sought out officer or the one with the most successful events; however, this was a quite interesting learning experience. I did appreaciate the ones that took the time to help out and cherished them and also appreaciate my inner strenght. Phi Theta Kappa definitely challenged my sanity and devotion to the chapter. Phi Theta Kappa is not solely an environemnt in whcih academics are important but also an environment that foster individual growth and networking. i have become aware of my strengths and my weaknesses. Two things I do cherish is the ability to be able to stand up strong after a failure and the ability to stand up for myself, all thanks to Phi Theta Kappa.
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Being involved in any organization is worth a person's time; it doesn't have to be directly connected to the school but do make it directly connected to your community. To the community that you call home and that has given you all the resources available. Give back to the place that you came from and learned all the valueable life lessons.
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