Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Leadership Roadmap

An Uncompromising, Self-Deprecating Evaluation

Bear with me,

Foundations

Most of these images are from Facebook, since I mostly rely on my family to document my life while I focus on living it. I'm the oldest of three siblings, and I have a large extended family.

I was the bad kind of loner.

Rather than shunning relationships as a form of "too-cool-for-school", wearing-sunglasses-indoors, spiky-haired rebellion, I didn't understand the utility of friendship. This persisted until my Sophomore year of highschool, when, against all odds, I made some friends. Naturally, in order to keep from dying of boredom in the meantime, I spent a lot of time playing on the computer. When it came time to choose a major, computer science was a natural choice.

I'm the leftmost kid in a yellow shirt.

Realization

Early College

This was in 2015, when I was a freshman (I'm the one on the right; the other, my roommate). As you can see, I'm about 3 pounds of human spread over a skeleton-shaped twig.

Lop off some excess below the shins and I could have been a techie poster boy.

Realization

A swig of reality

Early on, my study strategy could generously be described as the academic equivalent of violent thrashing. What success I had was in spite of my short-sighted disregard for good practices. I took abysmal notes if I took notes at all, I was constantly and consistently distracted during class, and I had no understanding of how to assess my own mastery of a subject before said mastery was formally assessed. Ultimately this resulted in a lot of episodes in the recurring series of What Do You Mean I got A C On This Midterm; I Studied A Whole Four Hours!

Despite my best efforts, that show kept getting season after season.

Connections

A Digital Encounter

While I made friends during my early college years, meaningful vocational relationships eluded me. Put another way, while in the company of my social circle, the computer science industry didn't often factor in to our conversations. This was a problem, because I'm also terrible at technical interviews, so referrals are one of the few ways I could actually get a job.

Then, at the end of my second fall semester, I got an email--someone was looking into starting an artificial intelligence club and needed Eboard members. Of course! I was always interested in AI, and I intended to specialize in it, though at that point I hadn't worked with it at all yet.

Despite this, I managed to get a position as treasurer.

New Role

A Turn

Responsibility wasn't new to me--I was staff during Toracon (shown right, with a very talented cosplayer)--and in having the role of Treasurer, I was able to learn the fundamentals of AI while contributing meaningfully to the club. Furthermore, I made a connection that ultimately landed me an internship.

Since I needed to set a good example for the members of RITAI, I pushed myself to improve my work ethic and social skills.

The Current Situation

The Present

Before too long, I became the Vice President of RITAI, and, this past semester, I was elected president. For me, learning how to effectively lead an organization is of critical and immediate importance.

Academics

Ending the Cycle of Pain

If I am to endure the stress of running a club, I must be able to manage the time I spend on my coursework without sacrificing my performance (and the other way around; I need to be able to manage the time I spend on club without allowing the quality of meetings to degrade). I have adopted several steps to accomplish this, most notably by no longer attempting to take electronic notes. Instead, I bought four notebooks, one for each of my classes where notes are relevant. I will review the notes I take and act on the advice I give myself, for once.

Studying cannot be done at the last minute; if I am to succeed, it must be consistent and continual, like the waves crashing into a beach.

Personal

Widening the Balance Beam

While social functions will always be a balancing act, not all balancing acts are difficult (for example, standing up). In order to be an effective leader, I must be able to connect with people, and to listen to and empathize with them. I joined Crisis Text Line as a volunteer in April, and serving their cause is an excellent, if difficult, method by which I can practice these skills, in addition to my on-the-job, trial-by-fire exercise as RITAI Club President (not to mention this course).

In order to keep myself mentally stable and minimize my number of "off days", I go to bed at or by 10:30pm every night, waking up normally around 7am, and I work out every morning for roughly a half hour. This consistency has greatly leveled my mood, though it sacrifices both time and flexibility (no late-night partying). At this stage in my life, it is worth the sacrifice.

Club

The Future of RITAI

Under my leadership, I hope to increase the reach and notoriety of RITAI on campus. The mission of the club is to build a community--a far cry from my antisocial origins, and the most difficult challenge I've ever aspired to overcome. Through High Performance Leadership, I hope to learn the best way to achieve this vision, with the help of my Eboard and club members.

Us at the Tiger Activities Gala

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi