Old Dominion University’s LeADERS program connects students to courses and real world experiences in the areas of: Leadership, Academic Internship, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Research, or Service Learning. This LeADERS ePortfolio shares how my experiences in the areas of leadership, service learning, and academic internship have supported my personal and professional development.

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I joined LeADERS because I unknowingly completed a class that met the requirements. Because of the recognition on my degree and at graduation, I decided to continue with the program. However, because I joined LeADERS later on in the program, reflecting on coursework was difficult for me because I completed some of the requirements a few years ago. I also had a different computer and did not archive my work the first two years of my college experience. Thus, remembering coursework and activities was challenging for me. Yet, I still feel that my ePortfolio demonstrates an understanding and, more importantly, an appreciation for my education at Old Dominion University. I believe that my greatest success throughout the course was enrolling in an academic internship. This is because I retrained myself on how to learn. The internship was quite hands-on, and traditional education is heavily taught out of a textbook. At first, I encountered difficulty changing the way that I approached learning, but my internship experience is something that I would recommend to every student.

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LeADERS has a variety of courses available for students to take. All of the classes extend a student's learning to real-world experiences. For example, many of the projects that I completed for my LeADERS courses required me to interview business owners, collaborate closely with supervisors to meet deadlines, and engage with other students to solve problems. All of these combined experiences have taught me to communicate more efficiently, brainstorm more creative solutions to problems, and work in a team. All of these qualities allow me to be a better employee, student, and citizen. I am a better critical thinker and reflect more on how each class I have taken in university has changed my perspective on life and others.

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Looking forward, my professional goals include working as a counselor for a public relations agency. I am very passionate about public speaking and hope that I can engage in this as much as possible in my future career. After graduation, I will attend graduate school at Old Dominion University to receive my MA in Lifespan and Digital Communication. I believe that my undergraduate courses have given me the foundation for strong communication and psychology understanding. Graduate school will allow me to further understand interpersonal relations, and I can incorporate my higher learning into my future career. My LeADERS experiences have emphasized the importance of teamwork, which I believe will be crucial as a public relations counselor. I also consider myself a leader, as I am the student who manages group projects and submits them appropriately before deadlines. Taking a course in leadership within this program allowed me to understand leadership from the different perspectives. Being a leader is more than just telling others what to do. Rather, it is guiding all parties (employees, customers, clients, etc.) to meet certain goals. I feel more prepared to take on executive positions in the future because of my involvement in this program.