Name: Stephanie Choate Age: 21 Year: senior Major: advertising with Spanish minor Hometown: Tampa, FL
Her Campus: What is your position on campus? Stephanie Choate: “I’m the president of Alpha Omicron Pi.”
HC: How did you get involved? SC: “I started sophomore year. I didn’t rush my freshman year, but I decided to go to Panhellenic recruitment sophomore year, joined AOII and then that just opened so many doors for me — just talking to the older girls who were already involved on campus. I started by getting involved with Gator Growl. I was a staff member for Talent Night. In the house I became the service chair for AOII, and then the next year I became Talent Night director for Gator Growl and Homecoming and built up in that organization. It’s all networking, and I met so many people through each position. From that I ran for president. I gained some leadership qualities and learned a lot of stuf, so I was like ‘Why not? Let’s go for it.’ Each small position opened new doors, and I met new people.”
HC: What is your favorite part of being in AOII? SC: “My favorite part of just being in the sorority is always having someone there. No matter if you need someone to go to the library with, if you are just bored and want to go get milkshakes at 2 a.m., if you need a hug or want to vent or want to talk about something awesome that happened, there’s always someone. There’s always something going on; you can’t walk around the house without seeing someone laughing and hanging out. My favorite part of being president is having the ability to make changes and make differences, like things that I really liked or didn’t like as a new member. Now I’m in a position where I can change things and keep us moving forward and improving. I like that people rely on me, and I like being able to help anyone that I can.”
HC: And the biggest challenge? SC: “There’s really no way to prepare to know how to lead a group of over 200 girls that range from 18 to 22 years old. That was the biggest challenge for me, just kind of learning how to oversee that many people and figure out how to gain their respect. Also learning good time management, which I’ve got figured out now, and it’s super helpful in all aspects of my life. ”
HC: What other things are you involved in on campus? SC: “Right now I’m just doing president, but before I was with Homecoming, Gator Growl, and last year I was the administrative assistant for Accent Speaker’s Bureau. I’ve also been a dancer for Dance Marathon, and I’m in Florida Blue Key.”
HC: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? SC: “I just want to be happy; ultimately 10 years from now, five years from now, tomorrow, whenever, I just want to be happy. Hopefully by that time, I’ll also maybe have a little family… a husband and a kid would be great.”
HC: What is your dream job? SC: “I used to always want to be a wedding cake decorator like on one of those shows, but that’s not very realistic… being realistic, hopefully something with advertising. I love my hometown of Tampa, so I would love to end up back there. I would hopefully get a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Tampa Bay Rays — any of my old sports teams that I grew up being a huge fan. To do advertising or marketing for those teams would be so cool.”
HC: What are your hobbies? SC: “I don’t really have hobbies. It’s just I’m so busy that when I have free time, I want to just be relaxing. I want to be lying on my futon watching Netflix… I just want to chill.”
HC: Who is your role model? SC: “My mom and my sister have always been my role models. Since I was little, the only reason I started playing basketball in school was because my mom and sister did, so I needed to do it too. Everything has always been based on them because they are so strong and they carry themselves with such grace, but they also know how to not take life too seriously. All my sarcasm, all my jokes and all my humor are straight from them, so they just showed me how to really think about what’s important in life and step back.”
HC: What advice would you give to new students? SC: “I was a really scared freshman. They just need to get out there and try something; it can be a club or even just sitting in class. Involvement isn’t for everyone; some people just want to come and do their school thing and chill. That’s fine, but even in class just talk to the person sitting next to you and go out of your way to meet new people. Some of the people I would just talk to in class from freshman year I still talk to. Put yourself out there; don’t be scared to try new things because I was scared to try new things my freshman year, and I feel like I lost a year. I didn’t even get involved and start doing things for myself until sophomore year, so start as early as you can. You’re not going to get this time back and this is the best time of my life so far.”
HC: What is your favorite memory at UF so far? SC: “I love fall in general. It gets colder in Gainesville than it does in Tampa, so it’s nice that there’s actually a season. Also everyone is just out and about. I love coming to Plaza of the Americas and just looking out… in the movies this is like what college is. You’ve just got a field, there’s people chilling on their little hammocks and just walking around. Overall, I think just joining AOII has been the best thing.”