Student Highlight: Emily Stephenson

Welcome to a new(ish) series highlighting Miami Hamilton students!  A couple times a month, I'll invite an MUH student to tell you a little bit about themselves and how they got involved in Student Activities and/or Orientation, and sometimes about their unique experiences (e.g. Jeff Gambrell's post about his trip to Haiti).  I highlighted my Student Coordinators for Orientation last summer in this post.  

It only seemed fitting to ask my longtime Student Worker, Emily Stephenson, to write the first student highlight post!  You've already seen her name quite a bit, but here is her story on how she got involved in Student Activities and Orientation:

Hi, my name is Emily Stephenson. I've appeared in several past posts, including Hello World!, Paint-a-Pot, Fall Fest, Toilet Paper Art, Airbrush Tees & New OLs and Spring Orientation 2012.  I am a sophomore at Miami Hamilton and I am pursuing a degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Business. I started at Miami Hamilton as a freshman, right out of high school. After my orientation, I immediately knew I wanted to join Campus Activities Committee. I’m a planning-type person so I knew planning events for students on campus would be right up my alley; I was right! 

Joining Campus Activities opened up multiple opportunities for me. I applied for my first campus job in none other than the Office of Student Activities. I became a student aide and I love it. I assist Jen with a variety of things such as setting up/working for events that CAC plans. I assist students who pop in with questions about the campus or activities, organize the office (only for people to make it messy again), design/update some table tent flyers and I’m also certified to present Miami Hamilton’s Condom Campaign, which is a sexual health program on campus, and any other random thing one could think of that happens in here. It’s never quiet or dull!

The office of Student Activities is also in charge of Miami Hamilton’s Orientation program. I was fortunate to start in this program as an Orientation leader for two spring semester sessions and one summer session. As an orientation leader, we are hired and trained to present in sessions as well as a tour; Miami Hamilton to new and incoming freshman or transfer students. I took a deeper dive into the Orientation program by applying to be a Student Coordinator this year. Student Coordinators are interns for orientation. We are involved from the ground up, but mainly behind the scenes when orientation actually happens. Student Coordinators aid in the hiring process for Orientation Leaders (OLs), plan OL trainings, present those trainings, schedule office hours for OL’s, design new student handouts, revamp new student session. I specifically am designing our new OL team t shirts and coordinate the recruitment and application process for hiring Orientation Leaders, as well as keep track of their schedules this summer.

As one could see, I’m very busy when it comes to my work. It all started with a simple meeting for a student organization. I encourage every student to get involved because the possibilities really are endless!