I have been very fortunate to acquire numerous positions that have given me the chance to gain valuable experience in a leadership role. Though I may have been reluctant to put myself out there at the time, I am grateful that I decided to take on every opportunity that I have as they all have offered me some type of learning experience which I can apply to all areas of my life going forward.

I was elected Treasurer of the National Spanish Honor Society in my senior year of high school and this is something I was very proud of. This was a unique experience for me, having been a member for over two years prior to being elected to this position, I was glad to get involved in a more meaningful way. As part of the position I managed fund raising efforts and organized events from a financial standpoint. This taught me valuable lessons in event planning and managing funds that I still use today. Additionally, I supervised financial expenditures for a club of 50 people and handled allocation of money for club events. Through this position I gained many practical skills that I have used many times since and I am grateful that I was able to serve as the treasurer for that reason.

Also while in my senior year of high school, I was elected to be Treasurer of Yearbook Club, an opportunity that I owe to the clubs supervisor who happened to be one of my teachers. I truly enjoyed this experience, and though it may have been a large commitment of time and effort, I think seeing the yearbook come together made all of that worthwhile. As part of my position I managed incoming funds received through pre-purchases and fundraising. I tracked both the incoming money received from various streams of income and the clubs expenditures in order to keep updated tabs on where the money was going. This experience taught me how to work effectively in a team environment as much of the time spent working on the yearbook was in groups. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to get this experience and I am glad that many of the skills I acquired through it are still very relevant to me today.

This past semester, as part of my Business Honors Program, I was given the opportunity to work on a service learning project with Broadridge Financial. This was a very involved project with the ultimate goal of reporting back to Broadridge about ways in which to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility. This project was heavily based in research and thanks to my fantastic group it was a very positive experience. We eventually presented our findings and suggestions to a panel of senior staff at Broadridge, including the companies COO. The company was very pleased with our work and it was a very positive experience overall. I think the most beneficial part of this project was the presentation and communication skills which I improved on throughout the semester and especially in the final presentation to the company. I am glad to have been able to be a part of this experience.

While all these other leadership experiences were great, by far the best leadership experience I have gained is through my internship at Stony Brook. I find this to be such a positive experience because not only do I get to be the teaching assistant for the Leadership Development minor, I also get to work on the restructuring of the Living Learning Centers on campus. It is this combination of experiences that makes this the best leadership experience I have gained thus far in my life. I have learned so many things, including how to give a lesson to a class and the entire process involved in creating that lesson. Additionally, through my involvement on the committees which work on pieces of the Living Learning Centers revamp, I have gained much improved skills in communication, team dynamics and time management. I feel that this experience has given me so much from a personal development standpoint and I am very grateful to have been able to have this opportunity.