When talking with Miami freshman Sydney Reichert and her mother, Stacy, two things became obvious; first, the apple truly does not fall far from the tree, and second, both the apple and the tree are total renegades. These two business-and-future-oriented women are perfect role models; they are both unblinkingly driven, incredibly hardworking, and totally unstoppable. Read on to get to know Sydney, a tennis racquet-wielding, Woman-of-the-Year-to-be, and Stacy, a former AChiO, Miami Merger, and cultivator of success, and watch as they cover everything from homesickness to networking.
HC: Sydney, what kinds of things are you involved in here at Miami?
Sydney: I’m in Pi Sigma Epsilon [PSE], which is a business frat, and BSAC, which is Business Student Advisory Council.
HC: And what’s the difference between those two?
Sydney: PSE is larger – I think there’s around 120 people – and in BSAC there’s about 40 people. On BSAC we work directly with the Dean and students of Farmer [Business School] to start new initiatives and figure out what the students want. PSE is more along the lines of getting assignments from companies and helping with the marketing side of things.
HC: We hear you’re also in tennis!
Sydney: Oh yeah, that too! We’re going to Arizona on Thursday (4/10) – I’m so excited!
HC: Did you play a lot of tennis in high school?
Sydney: No! I didn’t, I played soccer…
Stacy: You need Dad to answer this question!
Sydney: I know, this drives my dad crazy. I played [tennis] until I was 14 – when we moved back from Canada [to NY state], tennis and soccer seasons were the same, so I had to choose. And I chose soccer! I was going to play soccer in college and then I just decided not to, so I picked up tennis again. My dad always thought I was better at tennis so it annoyed him that I didn’t play it in high school!
HC: We know you’re really good – you qualified to travel for club tennis. What matches do you play?
Sydney: Club tennis…has interesting scoring, so at the tournament there’s a girls singles match, a guys singles match, girls doubles, guys doubles, and mixed. I do mixed and singles.
HC: Which one do you like better?
Sydney: Singles!
HC: Of all the things you’re involved in so far on campus which are you most passionate about, and why?
Sydney: I think eventually I’m going to be most passionate about PSE but right now it’s probably tennis – I just got involved in PSE and BSAC so I haven’t really experienced much of them. Tennis is what helped me stop being homesick – I was homesick until I joined tennis…It just feels like a family. Most of the people that I travel with are seniors, so it’s kind of sad that’s they’re all leaving – they all take care of me.
HC: So you were pretty homesick in the beginning of the year?
Sydney: [gestures to Mom] Yeah, I was, like, calling her all the time.
HC: Was it just the big change?
Sydney: Yeah, everyone wanted to just party. I guess I just thought that because those were the only people I saw. The quieter people were the people who didn’t always go out, and they weren’t the people I noticed. Once I started getting involved, it got better. It was just the awkward first couple days when no one really knew each other.
HC: Now that you’re over homesickness, what’s you’re favorite thing about Miami?
Sydney: I like how when I go home for vacation, it doesn’t feel like I’m home; this is my home!
[Cue Stacy’s motherly sounds of despair!]
HC: We know you’re always running around, you’re involved in so many things. How do you manage it without freaking out?
Sydney: I just have to prioritize, I guess. There are a lot of things I going on and if I can’t make an event I do my best to communicate that.
HC: [To Stacy] You were involved in a sorority in college. Where did you go to school and which sorority was it?
Stacy: I was, it was Alpha Chi Omega. It was a great part of my experience! I went to school here! I was president of AKaiO and I’m a Miami Merger.
Sydney: Do you know the chapel [on Western Campus]? That’s where they got married!
HC: How come you’re here at Miami today?
Stacy: I’m here because I sit on the BAC for Farmers School, which is the Business Advisory Council – it’s just comprised of adults, versus students!
HC: So, the big kid version of what Sydney’s doing?
Stacy: That’s right! We advise the new Dean. They’ll usually bring three or four priority topics to each meeting to get diverse points of view from each person there. How the university might think about [each topic], things to watch out for, etc.
Sydney: How are you chosen to be on the board?
Stacy: I think they just reach out to various alums. It’s business oriented, so there’s people representing all kinds of businesses on the council. It’s a volunteer position. I’ve enjoyed it – we only meet once or twice a year. It’s great just to hear what other people think about the business challenges that the school has because they talk about it through the lense of their own business, so they bring that very unique perspective.
HC: Do you have some advice that you would give to your daughter, or any freshmen coming to Miami?
Stacy: Yeah! I think these days in college you can’t underestimate how important it is to be networking. That’s sounds kind of cliche but the reality is your ability to have a conversation with one person will inevitably lead to another conversation, and another conversation, and that’s kind of what it’s all about, no matter what you’re interested in doing. Sometimes people think about networking as “I’ve gotta go have coffee” or “I’ve gotta go get lunch with somebody,” and that’s an easy way to do it too, but you can never anticipate where one conversation might lead.
Sydney: I think the best advice both my parents gave me was just to stick it out at the beginning of the year and keep getting involved. [I have one friend] whose parents picked her up every weekend and took her home – she never even gave college a shot and so once I started getting involved I started loving it and I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else!