Experience
Lakota East Chapter President (April 2015 to April 2017)
For two years, I have had the absolute pleasure of leading my chapter as president. In April 2015, our debate and thought talk quality was top notch, but we had relatively low numbers, a strained relationship with our school administration, and little in the way of activism. In the last two years, our chapter has more than doubled our convention attendance, mended our relationship with our school’s administration, and overseen activism projects like a mock election, two voter registration drives, soup kitchen volunteering, and a fleece tie blanket drive. I’ve learned a lot about how to run a successful chapter and the kind of support chapters in the ORV need to be successful.
Ohio River Valley Public Relations Specialist (November 2014 to April 2015)
As a freshman new to JSA, I gained skills calling and emailing news organizations about JSA when I was a PR specialist. It helped me gain an understanding of the great challenges associated with publicizing JSA in the media, and it also introduced me to what Cabinet is like through the eyes of a new specialist.
Ohio River Valley Technology Specialist (April 2015 to May 2015)
Midway through freshman year, it became clear that my duties as a PR specialist more and more had to do with maintaining the ORV website, so my director granted my request to change to a Technology Specialist. I gained valuable experience with the ORV website and other JSA technology applications.
Ohio River Valley Director of Technology (June 2015 to May 2016)
Moving on from Technology Specialist, as a director I went beyond the website and also focused on such technologies as video production and the convention tweet walls. More importantly, my experience as a director taught me about how to lead a successful team and how not to lead a successful team on JSA Cabinet. There were good days and bad days, and I came out of the experience thoroughly convinced that specialists on Cabinet should be kept motivated with substantive, real work where they have discretion over their project.
Southwest District Mayor (June 2016 to May 2017)
Mayor has been an absolute blast. The job has brought with it opportunities to work in a hodgepodge of different areas. In fundraising, I was able to raise over $1,500 (and counting) for the Ohio River Valley scholarship fund. The job has presented me with the opportunity to work with my Vice Mayor of Expansion to expand JSA to new schools. In the area of debate, I was able to write a new debate handbook, train and certify moderators, and write resolutions for Fall State. As a part of the Fall State pre-convention team, I gained valuable insight into how conventions are planned and run. In short, the job of Mayor completed the circuit for me; I now have some level of experience in every Cabinet department area.
JSA Summer School at Georgetown Graduate (July 2016)
As a constitutional law student at JSA Summer School, I met JSAers from around the country and heard about how JSA is conducted in other states. I am still thoroughly convinced that the ORV is one of JSA’s strongest states, but at the same time, the people I met from other states had some great ideas. My perspective on JSA and what JSA can be and do was definitely broadened by the experience.
Winter Congress Bill Director for the ORV (December 2016 to February 2017)
Winter Congress is a different beast from the other conventions, and holding this SuperCabinet position has certainly helped me learn the fundamentals of what it takes to put on Winter Congress.