Ask Sabrina: What Does Leadership Mean To You?

Welcome to the Ask an Exec series: a series where I ask our UNT Her Campus leadership team questions about their lives and their advice for new students!

Sabrina Maxwell is the vice-president of UNT’s Her Campus for the 2025-2026 school year. She is a junior and is majoring in biochemistry with a pre-physician assistant status. She is also minoring in biological sciences. As Her Campus VP, Sabrina works to keep things organized and utilizes her experience as last year’s event coordinator to help Her Campus thrive. Today, she discusses her own leadership experiences, and how leadership roles can transform the college experience.

Sabrina has been involved with many organizations over the years, building her skills through several different executive roles. In high school, Sabrina was the secretary for HOSA (Future Health Professionals, previously known as Health Occupations Students of America), where she built her organization skills. Since coming to college, Sabrina has also been involved in the African Student Association, Black Girl White Coat, and Her Campus, where she has been a social media manager, a mentor, and an events coordinator/vice-president, respectively. All of her roles have given her insight into how leadership roles can transform someone and help build community.

There are infinite benefits to being in a leadership role. One major benefit is building your communication skills. “It helped me change my communication style. Because I’ve interacted with so many different personalities–so many different people–I feel that I can communicate with almost anyone,” Sabrina said. “It changed my responses as well. I know how to change [my response] based on the person, because a lot of people like to be communicated to in different ways. Once you gain that skill specifically, you’re set.”

These roles also changed Sabrina’s perspective on teamwork. “I am usually an individual person. I like to do things by myself. I don’t really like to work in teams like that,” said Sabrina. Being on an exec board changed that. “It forced me to to work with people. I had to talk to people. I had to compromise. It honestly skyrocketed my teamwork skills, because I had to work in a team. Then I realized working in a team is a lot easier, because you put so many minds together, and you come up with ideas you never thought were possible before.”

As vice-president of UNT’s Her Campus, there are certain things Sabrina wants to bring out in the role. “Being a strong second in command means being very supportive and also very aware of everything that’s going on. [It means] being very knowledgeable about the things that I’m talking about, especially when it comes to her Campus. [It means] being very active on the board as well, making sure that everyone knows that they can come to me with their issues and look to me for solutions,” Sabrina said. “Being a strong second in command means being very level-headed.” 

One of the biggest challenges of being a leader is ensuring tasks get done without micromanaging. Sabrina shares some of her tips: “In order to not overbear, you need to create boundaries and gentle reminders. I like, personally, reminding the [exec] board every time we have meetings that, ‘Hey, this is coming up, just letting you guys know,’ and sending itineraries.” Being understanding is critical. “Things happen, we understand. Sometimes you get caught in pickles, sometimes you overslept…having that little bit of leeway and little bit of understanding that other things aren’t revolving around Her Campus helps with the micromanaging.” More than anything, Sabrina says, it’s important to communicate and understand. 

Approaching a leadership role can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never been in one before. Everyone hears about how important it is for your resume, but how do you actually get started, and what organization should you choose? Sabrina has some advice.

“It starts with finding something you’re passionate in,” Sabrina said. “How much passion you have for something will show in how hard you work. I think that that’s where people mess up. They just want to join because they think it looks good, or they think that it’ll be good for their resume. When really, yeah, it could be good for your resume, but what do you want to do? Because it’s your choice, and this is your experience at the end of the day.”

When you’re deciding what organization to be a leader in, make sure you think about how best to balance it with your life. “You should think about your time and how much you want to dedicate to [the organization], because that could also ultimately decide whether you’re fit for that board or not. [You need to decide] based on the dedication it takes, based on the amount of work it takes–you have to be willing to give all that and then also be a student at the same time.”

Even though it takes work, being a leader is absolutely worth it. On top of building your skills, it helps you feel more connected to campus, and helps you build your community. “It changed my outlook on college,” said Sabrina. “Getting more involved helped me see the beauty of being in college and being on campus. [It helped me see] how grateful I am for the experience, and how much I’ve grown as a person and as a student.” Even though putting yourself out there and becoming a leader can be nerve wracking, it is absolutely worth it.

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• leadership