Jenn Adler isn’t letting senioritis affect her campus involvement! Adler is the Vice President of Scholarship for the Quinnipiac Panhellenic, a founding sister of the Quinnipiac’s chapter of Pi Beta Phi, serves on the sorority’s Leadership and Nominating Committee, an Orientation Leader, a member of Enactus, and a member of Order of Omega. Wow! I spoke with Adler about her involvement and got advice for you on how to get super involved.
SAMI MOORE, HER CAMPUS STAFF WRITER: Why do you like to be so involved on campus?
JENN ADLER: It’s fun! There are so many things to do, places to go, and people to meet if you get involved. I love knowing that I’m playing an active role in my community and that I’m making a difference on campus. Being involved keeps me busy, and I’ve learned so much from my experiences. I can’t imagine what my college experience would be like if I wasn’t involved.
SM: How has being so involved benefited your time here at Quinnipiac University?
JA: I feel as though I’ve been able to learn just as much outside the classroom as I do inside the classroom. I have grown so much as leader, student, and individual through my campus involvement.
I’ve learned is how to manage my time so I am able to balance my schoolwork with everything else I do and I’ve been able to learn from so many amazing student leaders and faculty. I’m much more confident, willing to take on challenges, and I’m definitely much more organized than I was freshmen year. I’ve also been able to attend competitions and leadership development programs in places like Baltimore, Md., Kansas City, Mo., Hartford, Conn., and Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. Everywhere I go I am able to learn from my experiences and I bring back skills and ideas to the organizations I am a part of.
SM: What is the biggest challenge of being so involved on campus?
JA: I’ve definitely learned how to manage my time because of my involvement, but I haven’t quite perfected it. There are definitely times when I don’t plan out my time well and things pile up. Times when my procrastination catches up with me and it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to be everywhere and do everything can be wicked stressful. In the end I just have to buckle down and do everything I need to get done, but every time this happens is a learning experience. It’s sort of a wake up call and I am reminded that next time I have to plan out my time better.
SM: What are your plans for after graduation? Do you see your involvement playing a role in helping you reach these dreams and goals?
JA: After graduating in May I’m going to be staying at Quinnipiac for an extra year to get my MBA. After that I’m not 100% sure what I want to do. I would love to do some thing with integrated marketing communications or possibly work with students in some way.
Being involved has played a significant role in helping me grow personally and intellectually. What I’ve learned through my involvement will help me make my dreams and goals become a reality, even though I don’t exactly know what I want to do yet.
I like to think that my involvement has taught me some management and leadership skills that I will be able to use wherever I wind up. Being involved has also made me realize that I really like being in the academic environment and I may one day want to work in a school or university, but I definitely want to get my MBA.
I’m currently taking two MBA courses and in both classes there are times when I learn things that I can relate to my experiences with my involvement with Panhellenic and Pi Beta Phi. I’m a huge nerd so I think it’s so awesome when I make these kinds of connections in class.
SM: What do you do for each of these organizations?
JA: As Vice President of Scholarship for the Quinnipiac Panhellenic Council I have had the opportunity to meet and work with the amazing scholarship chairs in each chapter. Last spring I started a Panhellenic book club and the Panhellenic council began recognizing Scholars of the Month in the monthly Panhellenic Post. Over the summer created a summer reading recommendation list for Panhellenic sisters looking for a great book to bring to the beach! This fall I worked with the Panhellenic Vice President of Member Development Erica Reiss to highlight scholarship during the last week of September. I also oversee the Panhellenic Council New Member Scholarship, which is a scholarship awarded to two new members in order to help provide support when paying first semester dues.
I am also a founding sister of the Connecticut Gamma chapter of Pi Beta Phi and I serve on my chapter’s Leadership and Nominating Committee. I was on my chapter’s first executive council as the Vice President of Membership, and as a member of the Leadership and Nominating Committee I now play a role in the slating the next executive council.
I have been an Orientation Leader for the past three summers and being one the OL staff is truly life changing. I loved my own freshman orientation and being on the OL staff for three years was so amazing! This program taught me so much about being a student leader and is one of the big reasons I became wanted to become more involved on campus. I’ve had three amazing orientation leader partners and I have learned so much from my freshmen. (Shout out to my I Love Rock ‘n Roll, SPLAT!, and Nigeria freshmen!)
Quinnipiac Enactus (formerly known as Students In Free Enterprise) is one of the first clubs that I joined at Quinnipiac as a freshman. I’m playing more of an active role in this organization and I’m going to help with their newsletter and marketing and social media.
And I just became a member of Order of Omega this October but I’m so excited to be a part of this organization!
SM: For other collegiettes looking to get involved, do you have any words of advice?
JA: DO IT! or at least try it out. Go to a general board meeting for a club you’re interested in, or attend an event that an organization puts on and learn more about what they do. You’re here for four years (and trust me those years fly by) and it’s never to late to become more involved at QU. And lastly, get outside your comfort zone because you never know what experiences you’ll have, people you’ll meet, and what you could learn about yourself.