Name: Kara Klem
Major: Nursing
Year: Senior
Kara is a busy nursing student interested in pursuing a career in pediatrics, but she also finds time to create amazing programs as a Resident Assistant in Lothrop and lead a brand new organization on campus, Greek Intervarsity.
She started Greek Intervarsity at Pitt last spring with three other female students. Greek Intervarsity is a Christian fellowship organization for sorority and fraternity students of any denomination. Kara told me that the organization is about “how to live out your faith while being involved in Greek life and how to bring the two together. It can be hard, but we relate to each other and grow together. The group has good conversations.” The organization was not official on campus last year, but became official with Intervarsity, a national fellowship organization, in the Spring and became official at Pitt this Fall. The group at Pitt is unique in that the four students that started it are each from a different Greek house.
Kara is also an RA for her second year. She was on the 3rd floor of Lothrop last year, and she is now the RA for the co-ed Nursing Living and Learning Community in Lothrop. Currently, she is working with 35 residents. All of the female students are in nursing and about half of the male students are majoring in nursing as well. Kara “enjoys building a community. They are a great group, and I can be a good resource for them.” So far this year she has planned an activity for the students where an operating room nurse from Presby came and gave a talk and let them set up a sterile field. She is hoping to plan a program related to international experiences in nursing this semester.
Last year, she organized a building-wide trick-or-treating event. Residents dressed up in Halloween costumes and trick-or-treated to the different RA rooms on each floor. She also planned an ice cream social at the beginning of the school year that was very successful and over 100 people attended.
Kara enjoys “getting to know other residents. My RD [resident director] Sam makes the job really enjoyable. It isn’t really a job. It is just relationship building. Being an RA has made me a lot more confident as a leader. It is cool to be a role model for others. Also, I have been able to meet a lot of people of campus. It has opened doors and helped me grow as a person.”
If you are interested in getting involved with Greek Intervarsity, their meetings are on Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm in Room 837 of the Union. Also, you can email them at PittGreekIV@gmail.com for more information.