Emma Stier is a Des Moines native double majoring in Marketing and Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. Her favorite thing is about the university is that “You have the opportunity to meet and know so many different types of people here from incredibly diverse backgrounds and experiences. There is so much to learn from others, it’s just about taking that step to establish new relationships.” I agree that Iowa is filled with unique people to learn from, and Emma is one of them.
Involvements
Emma is the Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega.
“I oversee all of our social medias, our website, newsletter, PR events and major chapter communications with the help of my committee of five awesome women in my chapter. I love my position; it has given me the opportunity to learn on my own about many skills I will utilize in a marketing career and confirmed that this is the career I really want to pursue. Plus, it’s so fun. Social media is often criticized as this pointless time waster that Millennials worship, but I see it as an opportunity to brand yourself and your organization.”
She is currently preparing to participate in Dance Marathon for the third time as a Morale Captain for Group 49.
“I only became a Morale Captain a few weeks ago, but I have been involved in DM leadership for the past year as a Business Committee member. I fell in love with this organization and everything it does for the families at the Children’s Hospital. As a Morale Captain for this upcoming school year, I will lead a large group of dancers and help them reach the big event in February, where we celebrate for 24 hours all of the successes of the past year. This position includes making sure my dancers reach their $500 minimum, helping them fundraise through canning and fundraising parties, and keeping up the morale throughout the entire year. I am so excited to begin this year, and I encourage anyone who has not done Dance Marathon before to do it for at least one year. It is an experience you will never regret, and one that has personally changed my life.”
Emma is currently training to run the Chicago Marathon for Dance Marathon as well.
“I am only about a month into training, and I’m not on an official schedule yet, just building my endurance at this point! Everyone who has done the Chicago marathon through Dance Marathon has said that it is a life changing experience. The Chicago Marathon selects runners through a lottery system, but since we are a charity organization we have guaranteed spots. It just seemed like, if I don’t do it now, when will I? There is never a convenient time to do the things that scare us. When I tell people I’m running the marathon, so many people say, “Oh I could never do that.” Uh, ya you can! Before I started training I had never run more than a 5k before, and in a month I have already beaten many personal training goals of mine. If those kids across the river can beat cancer, I have no excuse to not run 26 miles in their honor.”
Emma has also recently been elected as a senator for the 2016-2017 school year in the University of Iowa Student Government.
“I served as a senator for the second half of this past semester, and was appalled at how much impact student government has on the Iowa campus that people are unaware of. This group of students makes positive changes every week that improve the lives of students at Iowa, and I cannot wait to be an active part of those positive changes next year. As a senator, I will work on legislation to propose to the senate in order to pass initiatives that we believe will improve the lives of the Iowa City community and Iowa campus.”
Advice
Emma Stier is clearly a very involved student at the University of Iowa but never lets her busy schedule impact her positive, motivated personality.
“People often make up excuses as to why they can’t get more involved or push themselves to take that more time consuming leadership position. One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Someone once told me not to bite off more than I could chew. I told them I would rather choke on greatness than nibble at mediocrity.’ We are capable of so much more than we believe. Take the chance, turn in the application, try it out. And if you find out it isn’t what you want, it is okay to say no and focus on what is really important to you. With all that in mind, staying organized is imperative. I use a large planner as well as a to-do list every day. Some weeks I will plan out each day to ensure I get everything done that I want to. It can be difficult to balance what is important, but having a plan and writing it out has been incredibly helpful to me in ensure I am using the most of my time.”
In Emma’s down time you can catch her at her favorite Iowa City location, Java House, or eating ice cream anywhere it’s available.
Future Plans
This summer Emma will be a digital marketing intern at CoisCeim, a dance theatre, in Dublin.
“This is one part of my college experience that I did not see coming at all. I have a friend who raved about his experience studying abroad last summer, and I mentioned to my advisor that I was considering doing a summer abroad. She suggested a program called IES Internships. It is a work-study program that includes a full-time internship in a career field you are interested in as well as taking class at a local university. It sounded perfect, and one thing led to another, and now I will be living in Dublin for two months. I have never spent this long outside of the United States, and I believe it will be one of the greatest learning experiences of my time in college.”
When I asked Emma if she currently has any long-term plans, she gave a perfect response with advice we all need to hear…
“Part of me wishes I could say I did, but I really don’t. I tend to plan about roughly six months ahead at a time, which I think is valuable in getting what you want done, but also allowing for new opportunities to arise. If you had asked me a year ago what I would be doing now, I would have had a completely different answer. And that’s what college is about! There are new opportunities thrown at you every day. Find what you love and let it become a part of who you are. Make a plan, then scrap the plan. Constantly rewrite it. Too many people think there is one way to live life. Screw that. Do what you want, do it all in the wrong order, be fearless, work hard, play hard, lead hard. Don’t let fear hold you back, especially if it is fear concerning what others will think of you. Because ‘I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one.’”