Joining Alpha Kappa Psi

Relevant KASB capacities:

• Knowledge
• Self-awareness of personal leadership styles, strengths, weaknesses, stressors, and emotional and physiological reaction to stress
• Transitional (Professional) Development
• Develop a network of support for self and for one's organization

Reflection:

To give some background, Alpha Kappa Psi is known as America's largest and oldest professional business fraternity. Since our conception in 1904, AKPsi has produced many world-renowned leaders, such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, to name a few. As an out-of-state student looking for new connections, membership with AKPsi seemed like a perfect opportunity to jump right in.

I rushed AKPsi during the Spring quarter of my freshman year. I've had a lot of experience with leadership in high school, being president of National Honor Society, Historian on my Speech & Debate Team, Captain on my Cross Country and Track teams, various roles within Student Council including Junior Class VP and Student Body Treasurer, etc. I thought these "big fish small pond" experiences would be sufficient to carryover in my college experiences. With that, I ran for the Pledge Class President and won. My duties for the rest of the quarter were to act as project manager and oversee four different committees (Philanthropy, Social, Professional Development, and Fundraising) and ensure they hit their goals so our entire pledge class could cross into membership.

Out of a pledge class of 21 members, we crossed over 19 - and that was only because 2 other members dropped out of the process for their own personal reasons. Needless to say, the pledging experience was a rollercoaster. Bonding with 18 amazing individuals (who now by the way are doing crazy cool things) while putting in 15+ hours of work each week within an 8-week time frame while getting endless constructive (and not so constructive) criticism from membership. It's not for everyone, but the rewards now are so fulfilling! I have held the Social Chair position for a year, sat on the Fundraising Committee, and now I currently contribute through our Alumni Relations Committee.

Self-awareness of personal leadership styles, strengths, weaknesses, stressors, and emotional and physiological reaction to stress

The hardest part of pledging for AKPsi is that we are very selective upon who we allow to enter our membership. It is a brotherhood, after all, and membership lasts a lifetime. That's why we spend so much time perfecting the process with which we elect pledges into brothers. However, the caveat is that sometimes it may be a little too selective and as humans, we criticize and judge. This can sometimes be construed into being just plain mean (though the good intent is there).

When I took the role of Pledge Class President, I was held to the highest standard out of all the other individuals on my team. Unfortunately, my "big fish small pond" experiences did not prepare me for the standard of measures and expectations I was soon to fall short of. One of the biggest realizations happened during an event called "Midcourt." Essentially, all the pledges gather for a night to be individually interviewed by a panel of judges. They are asked to assess their own performance, the performance of others, their motivation, what AKPsi means to them, the purpose of heritage, etc. These questions are an attempt to bring self-awareness to the pledges of how they are actually doing throughout the pledge process and the purpose behind the . For me, it was a very rough eye-opening experience - that night, I realized I was nowhere near the type of leader I wanted to be. As a freshman Pledge Class President leading a pledge class of sophomores, juniors, and even seniors, there was an awkward pull between our status. I unknowingly did not have the respect nor the credibility from my pledge class because of my lack of age, lack of experience, and lack of confidence in my leadership capabilities. To be fair, they liked me as an individual, just not so much in a leadership role. During Midcourt, members asked questions left and right that made me realize I was a lot more passive aggressive than I liked to admit. I also didn't have much ownership in the things that I did. From this experience onward, I realized how important feedback is to grow as a person and a leader. Whatever kind of leader I am today... I can definitely be better. Learning more about myself as a person will help me understand what environments I thrive in, what skills I need to foster, or what have you.

Develop a network of support for self and for one's organization

Our membership at the University of Washington stands strong at sixty. Our chapter, Rho, is one of thirteen chapters in the Northwest Region and one of 236 in the nation. I only mention this because I am lucky enough to have access to one of the largest networks. I strongly believe that a large part of leadership is fostered through learning from others and their personal experiences. One of the greatest reasons why I joined Alpha Kappa Psi is because I wanted to cultivate relationships with the people I looked up to and wanted to be one day.

The Northwest Region

Presenting during a workshop whilst cold

I took an active role as my chapter's unofficial Inter-Chapter Relations chair. This role entailed being the liaison between my chapter and the other chapters in the Northwest Region and enabled me to attend the leadership conferences that happen throughout the year. My first conference experience that sparked my love for networking was the Spring Officer Training Camp at WWU in 2011. This was the first time I had met brothers outside of my chapter. The day was filled with leadership workshops, position-specific workshops, and icebreakers throughout! I personally love these things so I had a blast. From then on, I attended Convention 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona (a national conference that occurs every two years), Principled Business Leadership Institute 2012 in Reno, Nevada (an annual West Coast conference), the Northwest Region Kickoff 2012 in Portland, Oregon (a community service event), as well as taking part in hosting the annual Spring Training Conference at our own campus during the first week of March. Attending these events have helped me (1) further my leadership and professionalism through various workshops, (2) expose myself to different chapter cultures that are different from my own, and (3) build those relationships that I find extremely important. I now have friends from various schools in Florida, Arkansas, Oregon, Nevada, California, and even Canada! It's such a fulfilling and enriching feeling to have people I can reach out to for support if I need (and vice versa).

Receiving an award for Rho Chapter from then  President, Andrea Nemeth