The Next Steps

When I moved to Charlotte in 2015 as a newly minted PhD I knew that I was beginning a new journey. It was certainly not my expectation that less than a year later I would be asked to serve as the Vice President of the Beta Omicron Sigma chapter. After a few brief conversations with ,then Grammateus, Stephanie Lawrence it seems I had convinced her that I had the skill set and experience to fill the void on her executive board. I recall the moment she asked me to step into the role, I laughed. I knew the level of responsibility that the role carried and I wasn’t certain that as a fairly new professional and even newer wife I wanted to take on this additional responsibility. Yet, the confidence that Soror Lawrence conveyed that she had in me somehow convinced me to say yes. So began a whirlwind of amazing experiences, numerous lessons learned and the foundation for so many things to come. Looking back now, I can clearly see the moments where she was strategically grooming me for things to come. There were so many moments where she stepped aside and pushed me out of my comfort zone or she simply handed me the reigns without hesitation. I don’t know if she knew it, but so many of those times I was terrified. Yet at every moment I knew that she and so many others were rooting for me every step of the way, seeing my potential to lead. Over my four years as Vice President my confidence in representing the chapter grew tremendously. At every turn I was learning new skills and coming to a deeper understanding of what it meant to serve. That the position of President required much more than leading, but also listening and continuously learning. It has truly been through the relationships that I have built with so many members that expanded my perception of sisterhood and what this chapter could grow to be. Four years and one toddler later, as the president of this amazing chapter I know I have been given a charge to lead and an even greater responsibility to listen. I see my role as one that finds balance between serving the needs of my members and directing them as we serve our community together. In this unprecedented year, each of us are managing the challenges in our own way, and as a sisterhood our moments together should be ones that incite joy and encouragement. We know our mission is to serve our community civically, socially and educationally, but we must also find ways to feed ourselves in these in order to continue to best serve others. As we continue this sorority year my goal is to continue to focus on building the bonds of sisterhood among the ladies in Beta Omicron Sigma, but also for us to harness the amazing talents and creativity of each member to find new ways of serving the Greater Charlotte community. I hope that at the end of my two year term that I will be able to look back and find happiness in the moments where we were able to encourage one another, to come together be it virtual or in person , and offer our time and talents to our fellow citizens , and to have built even stronger bonds of sisterhood with the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho!