As the semester comes to a close, I’ve been really thinking about how different this one was than all of the ones before. Instead of just playing the student role, I jumped into a leadership role. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I was stressed out more than I ever have been, but I wouldn’t change a thing. My first semester with Her Campus taught me so much about life, friends, and leading. Here are just a few of the lessons I learned:
1. You’re never going to please everybody.
I’m not the type of person to bend over backwards to get someone what they want, but I do want people to be happy. And when you’re in charge of scheduling events for a group of around 15 college students, it’s hard to make it work for everyone.
2. You’ve got to trust your teammates.
When you are in a position of leadership for any organization or job, you have to trust the people on your team. You’ve got to trust that they will do their part or else you will literally drive yourself crazy. I’m speaking from experience, and I’m still working on this one.
3. Meetings actually can be fun.
Who knew? I despise meetings. Hate them. But with Her Campus, we get stuff done while cracking jokes and passing around giant bowls of candy. And everyone likes free candy. Another bonus? I haven’t had anyone fall asleep on me yet!
4. People will respect you if you respect them.
We’ve all been taught this since we were toddlers. But this was really my first time learning how to get respect as someone who is “in charge” of a group of people. It really is true though: if you respect your team, they will respect you right back. It’s not hard.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Everyone needs help sometimes. That doesn’t change just because you somehow got put in charge. I’m lucky I had such amazing teammates to lean on, and who were willing to step up when I needed them to.
6. Google is an actual life saver.
I used to be so anti-Google everything besides Gmail and the search engine. I did not use docs, slides, spreadsheets or the calendar. But now? Now I’m a firm believer in all things Google. It actually saved my life multiple times this semester.
7. Just when you thought you couldn’t get busier, you get busier.
I have never been so busy in MY LIFE as I’ve been since starting up this chapter of Her Campus. There were days when I was on my computer all day lying out week’s worth of content, meetings and events, all the while having four papers to turn in, TV to watch, (#TGIT is a job, don’t question it) applications to read, and going to work. AND I had to shower, eat and sleep? There aren’t enough hours in the day…
8. So, I learned to delegate.
I wouldn’t have made it past September if I hadn’t figured out how to delegate. I’m super OCD about how things run and look, so this was pretty hard for me. It all worked out in the end. If anything, it worked out better, because I know our Instagram wouldn’t be so aesthetically pleasing if I had to do that on top of everything else.
9. People are more willing to meet deadlines when you let them choose what they write.
I tried the whole assigning article topics thing. That did not work. It didn’t take long to figure out that letting people choose their own topics (within reason) makes them much more likely to actually turn stuff in on time. The only time I really assign topics now is when there’s something in the news that needs to be covered. Other than that, I give them freedom to write whatever they’re feeling.
10. Her Campus is a family.
I was really nervous that when I started this, people would see Her Campus as just a job and nothing else. The most rewarding thing about this has been the family we have created with Her Campus. We get along, we laugh, we can make fun of each other, we bowl (badly) together, and together, we make a pretty badass family.