Leadership is an important part of the Christian college experience. For many students, leadership roles help them discover their passions and learn about how they'd like to shape their futures. So what does it take to be a leader on your college campus? How can you use your gifts, talents and interests to serve your campus? For answers, we talked to three busy student leaders about how their experiences on Christian college campuses have stretched their leadership abilities. Setting Priorities
Emily Fischer, Junior
Northwestern College
Orange City, Iowa
Major: Christian Education Before beginning her freshman year at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, Emily Fisher had a very big problem. On the day she was supposed to interview for an academic scholarship, she also had appointments in the music department, theater department, religion department and athletic department. "I came expecting to be very involved," Emily says with a laugh. Now a junior, she's gone through three distinct phases of embracing the busy life: the breeze of freshman year compared to high school; the stress of sophomore year when volleyball commitments left her overcommitted; and the beginning of this year, with activities streamlined but classes in full gear, leaving her as active as ever. Emily is now serving as a student coach for the junior varsity volleyball team, assisting a professor in the religion department, tutoring for three classes, working as a discipleship group intern for the Campus Ministry Team, interning at a local church, and taking 16 credit hours. She thrives on being busy, and is quick to share the advantages of an action-packed schedule. "As a result of all of my activities, I've made so many wonderful connections with people and professors all over campus," Emily says. "Relationships with people here on campus and our local community have been really good for me, and I've really benefited from the insight and career connections from people who are older and wiser than I am," she says. "I wouldn't be so involved if I didn't love it." Still, being busy can have a downside. "There have been a few times this semester when I really thought I was going to freak out and lose it," confesses Emily. "It was scary to me because I've always been so efficient and so willing to do everything. But you know, God has been gracious and I've been able to handle everything thus far." During those too-busy times, Emily has found ways to make changes to make her schedule work. Her volleyball career is an example of how being flexible and setting priorities has helped Emily manage her time and energy well. After she played on the team for her first two years, she decided she needed to cut back on her commitment. "I decided that junior year I would not do volleyball," she explains, "but then I kind of got involved anyway because I didn't want to leave the team." Student coaching is the resulting compromise. That way, Emily can still participate in the sport she loves, but her commitment is more time-flexible, allowing her to study and be a part of other activities. For now, Emily doesn't plan on quitting anything. But a big part of making her busy schedule work is her willingness to be very disciplined about how she spends her time. "If you've got a busy schedule, you can't afford to spend hours being idle," she advises. "I'm very careful about how I spend my time." For her, that means sticking to a written schedule and not watching TV or movies very often. She also avoids Instant Messaging, because it seems to take up too much time. She's also careful to get enough sleep. And because she's a "people person," she makes sure to make time to relax and hang out with friends. A Passion for Getting Involved
Tyler Neel, Senior
Oklahoma Baptist University
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Major: Religion Tyler Neel arrived at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, planning to take advantage of everything it had to offer. "I wasn't involved in many activities in high school, so I was looking forward to being in college and getting involved in everything I could," he says. Now a senior, his resumé of activities proves he did just that: He's president of the Omega Chi Delta men's club, president of the Ministerial Alliance, co-chair of the Harvest Ministry, chair on the Volunteer Action Committee, and chair for the OBU Steering Committee for Welcome Week. Tyler works part time, is taking 15 credit hours, and is training for the United States Marine Corps—he leaves for boot camp after graduation. Needless to say, Tyler doesn't get a lot of down time. "There's a part of me that wishes I wasn't involved in anything," admits Tyler. "I would just have time to relax and chill out. But I care—a lot—about each of my commitments." When he first joined Omega Chi Delta, one of OBU's social clubs for men, it was dying from lack of interest. But Tyler was not put off by the challenge. "My personality is one that likes to build things and reconstruct things," he says. "So I saw it as an advantage." He joined the club and took initiative, spending hours and hours reviving the club. "I just started doing things," he says. In fact, he put in so much time that when the group's president graduated the next year, Tyler's peers elected him as president, even though he was only a sophomore. Today, the clubwith almost 30 membersis one of the most successful on campus, and one of Tyler's favorite commitments. He relishes the nitty-gritty of the job. "You have to look at the small things," he says, "doing things behind the scenes that make things work. A lot of people don't realize that; they just show up and meet. But there's more to it, especially with pledging, the service projects we do and Bible study preparation. It's more time-consuming, but for me the benefit of having a club that runs well is worth it." And Tyler brings that same spirit to everything he does, committing himself to activities that use his ministry-oriented heart and task-oriented leadership style. "The best advice I can give someone," says Tyler, "is to pour yourself into things you're passionate about." Making Friends, Helping People
David Beisner, Sophomore
Bryan College
Dayton, Tennessee
Major: Communications David Beisner has always been busy. At age 11, he started his own lawn-care business. A busy home-schooler, he balanced his studies and home-based business with several other church and community activities throughout his high school years. So getting involved with leadership activities at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, didn't faze him at all. As a sophomore, he's already established himself in a variety of organizations around the school. David works in the operations department, which allows him to use his lawn management and landscaping background. He works in food service and in the theater department, doing set construction and working with the technical aspects of theater. But that's not all. David volunteers with the Bryan College Chorale, is a new student orientation leader for Student Life, works as an ambassador for the admissions office, and is co-president of a group called Students in Service, which organizes opportunities for students to participate in service projects. He also takes 15 credit hours of classes. Last fall David organized a trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for 79 members of Bryan's community who wanted to do hurricane relief work. "I suggested we take a couple of van loads or a bus load of kids down over a weekend and just do some work. Our faculty advisor liked the idea, and we decided to lead a trip over fall break. Eventually the idea morphed from us taking one school van to Baton Rouge into a caravan of two 24-foot trucks, three vans, two pick-up trucks, and a charter bus of volunteers." David is much busier than he expected to be, and he likes that. "Because of all my activities, I've been able to meet a lot of people," he says. "I've got friends in pretty much every social group at Bryan. And I enjoy helping people through my volunteer work—it's fun, and personally satisfying." But even with an extremely busy schedule, this student leader understands the importance of setting aside time to rejuvenate physically, mentally and spiritually. "I do my best to get to bed by midnight every night," he says. "I don't want to lose sleep, because then I'm no good to anybody." David's also committed himself to resting on Sundays. "I don't do any work of any kind on Sunday," says David. "That gives me one day a week when I can just rest, take a nap, read a novel or hang out with friends. Although sometimes I'm not sure how things are going to get done, taking that time to relax has helped me to keep going and keep up with things." Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life's Ignite Your Faith magazine.
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