Our executive team recently had the opportunity to travel to Saint Louis for Zeta Tau Alpha’s annual Officer Leadership Academy. At this conference, incoming executive committee officers get the chance to develop their leadership skills, talk to officers from other campuses, and come up with new ideas to bring back to their home chapters. Our Chapter president, Hazel Ward, details her experience and key take-aways below:
"This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to take some of my executive team to Saint Louis for Officer Leadership Academy. We had so much fun while also strengthening our leadership skills.
On Friday night, we got the chance to talk to our chapter mentor, Heather Mathews Kirk. We got to share many of our ideas with her, as well as taking time as a group to look over our specific chapter’s report in order to help us guide our thinking for the upcoming weekend.
Another fun part of the weekend was getting to share a room with another officer in our same position, but at another chapter. The Purdue University ZTA president, Danielle, was my roommate for the weekend. Danielle and I had fun talking about our respective campuses, programming, and career interests. I thought it was super interesting how even though our chapters may be different in some ways, we share a lot of the same ideas and experiences through Zeta!
Saturday was a busy day of programming, where everyone was split into workshops designated specifically to their position. I got to spend a majority of the day with other chapter presidents, learning more about everything Zeta has to offer us and our members. Through my conversations with other president’s from chapters of all sizes, I realized that no matter how big or small a chapter may be, we all share the mutual priority of making sure love remains the greatest of all things. When I finally met up with my Alpha Omicron girls, we were all so energized. I could tell all five of them had reignited their passion for their position and I couldn’t wait to hear all of the things they were ready to try to implement back in Iowa City.
That night we played Zeta Bingo, listened to Charlie (Zeta’s personal DJ !!!), and celebrated Nicki, our Vice President of Membership’s, birthday. Once Sunday morning rolled around, we were ready and excited to go back to Iowa City to start applying all the amazing things we had learned.
I’m so grateful for the opportunities Zeta has offered me as a leader. I feel more confident in my ability to lead our chapter after being surrounded by so many other empowered women this weekend. I also feel closer with my EC and ready to take on the year ahead with them by my side. I know now that my team is equipped with the resources, as well as the heart, to continue pushing our chapter forward.
Zeta Love And Mine,
Hazel"
Check out the video below for more fun footage of the weekend! Thank you to our Anna Zinselmeier for capturing such a fun trip!
Comments