Reunion Weekend 2019
As a part of my internship, one of my out of office programs is Reunion. My CEO, Jonathan Zur is a Jepson alum and found that this would be a valuable opportunity. I served as a Senior RSA, which means my responsibilities involved, training other RSA’s and serve as a point of contact for fellow RSAs, as well as preform other specific duties.
This year was my second year being a Reunion Student Ambassador, and this year was even more memorable than the last one. Working with older alumni, always feels like a vulnerable step for me. As we know and learn, we know that our identities often inform some, if not all of our experiences. They also inform how we navigate the world, which is typically why I get nervous about working with older populations. My reason for this is that I feel as though I can be received wither really positively or negatively by older folks.
This time was different. First, I met Bebe (Class of 1959). She was incredible and was definitely a highlight of my weekend. She was a former student-athlete on the field hockey and lacrosse team, as well as a supporter of all women’s sports at UR. She asked me about my passions and my hopes of maybe going to Law School to be a Civil Lawyer. It was great talking to her because she was so affirming and supportive of my goals, and we JUST met!
Additionally, I was able to attend the President’s Breakfast again. Aside from the incredible breakfast, award are giving out to alumni at this event. I met a former Women’s Basketball player, who played from 1993-1997. Her name is Stephanie Eken Sander, and was also a Jepson student. She received an award from the Jepson School of Leadership on Saturday morning. Dean Soderlund kindly let me sit with her, another Jepson award winner and their families.
Reunion was a great opportunity to talk with alumni from Jepson or otherwise to hear about their experiences and greatest moments at Richmond. Being that I did not go to the Edge Institute, I use this opportunity to network and practice my elevator pitch!!! The alumni didn’t know that I was “practicing” and they seemed to enjoy all that I was saying.
All in all, this week was a great week to work on my own leadership style as I was responsible for supervising and leading training. And I learned a lot able what I value in co-workers, what I appreciate, and what frustrates me!
(This post is uncategorized because I have more internship weeks than journals required.)
It’s great that Jonathan feels that assisting with Reunion Weekend is valuable and goes hand-in-hand with the work that VCIC does in the community. I don’t know what you’re talking about in terms of working with older populations/generations; you’re a polite, intelligent, accomplished young woman and I don’t know how any of that could be perceived as negative. But I’m glad you only had positive interactions at Reunion. I’m glad you had the chance to meet Stephanie Eken Sander too. Thanks for explaining about the ‘uncategorized’ element for this reflection.