A4: My Personal Ethos Anna Mirabella April 29,

The Different Roles I Fill

Mattering Map

Focus: Activities vs. Academics I’ve always thought of myself as a very analytical and academically focused person – “School always comes first” Went from minimally involved in activities, to greatly involved. This has become an area of transition for me in the last 6 months Tension: activities vs. my academics

My Past – Before Middle School Started Middle School Quit Flute Quit Horseback Riding Flute 2 teachers in 2 years Horseback Riding 2 barns in 5 years Didn’t own my own horse No strong ties to either activity School My family strongly valued academics It came easily to me Wanted to “focus on my academics”

My Past – High School Volleyball Student Government Joined Robotics Team Quit Volleyball Robotics Team Captain High School Student Government Reelected Robotics Team Captain Volleyball Few connections with coaches or team Student Government Liked working with peers and faculty Positive, supportive environment Robotics Strong sense of community, 3+ hours a day Passion for engineering and problem solving Still always put academics first

My Past – Freshman Year First-Year Advisory Board (FAB) Attended 2 Robotics Club Meetings Started ResearchQuit ResearchFAB Ended First-Year Advisory Board – Summer 2012 No connections or sense of accomplishment Robotics Club Not a supportive environment Research Didn’t feel like I was contributing (no meaningful tasks or deadlines) My Freshman Experience 13 MechE’s so lots of academic support Extremely close with my floor, spent all my time there Still always put academics first * Left the year with no extracurriculars

My Past – Sophomore Year MechE SACJoined Sorority Scholarship Committee (Theta) Recruitment Party Chair (Theta) Added a few extracurricular commitments Lived off campus so I still felt very disconnected from everything Joined my sorority Still always put academics first

My Past & Present – Junior Year Reelected to MechE SAC Scholarship Committee Again Greek Peer Mentor Operations Chair for Philanthropy Event Chief Financial Officer (Replacement for Fall 2014) Pi Tau Sigma Vice President Membership Development Committee Chief Recruitment OfficerBooth Room Chair Became connected with my sorority Moved into the house Took on many more positions (as I got more out of it I wanted to keep doing more) Pi Tau Sigma & MechE SAC Became much more connected to my department (peers, faculty and staff) Are academics still always first? Real vs. Ideal Connections with People

My Current Schedule Do academics still come first? Homework Due Lab Report Due Exam

New Conflicts Time-management Too little time, awkward lengths of free time Sacrificing sleep to get everything done Overlapping deadlines, Ex. Booth Group vs. Extracurricular Meetings Scheduling conflicts, overlapping deadlines Which one comes first? Who do I let down? Ex. Theta national representative visit vs. Design 1 project In a Position to be a Role Model With more commitments, more eyes on me doing well in school Questioning Akrasia

Do academics still come first? True I highly value my academics I commit to activities because of the people rather than how much they relate to my academic or career goals My extracurriculars have begun to detract from my academic performance and the time I have to take care of myself I don’t have any hobbies related to my academic interests Ideal Fulfilling my academic and extracurricular commitments at the level I want Saying no to new opportunities when needed Getting involved in activities directly related to my academic (and career) interests* *This would still be putting more on my plate Real Academics don’t have to be the #1 priority all of the time Short Term: Question my decisions. Why should I take on this position? How will it benefit me? How will it detract? Long Term: What option will get me to my current end goal? What are the applications of my school work?

Where do I go from here? Reevaluating my commitments and how I spent my time Are academics the most important? What am I putting energy into, but not getting much back from? Focus my energy on the things that are more important  school isn’t always the mostimportant thing After College  Another Transition Identifying the skills and organizations important to me Start evaluating these commitments during my summer internship

Solution for Senior Year Academics & Career I will be finishing my undergraduate degree next semester Cutting back on my activities will allow me to make more time Career Search  I can focus on the classes that are relevant to what I will be doing after graduation –When my classes are directly relevant to a job it will be easier to feel accountable for them Activities Keep the activities I am already committed to for the fall (CRO, VP of Pi Tau Sigma, MechE SAC) Support the communities that I am currently a part of – Don’t sign up for leadership positions in my sorority – Support the new leaders by fulfilling my required roles on committees Also helps to support younger sisters grow and helps the organization long term

QUESTIONS?