Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Questioning if Organizations Display Teamwork or Personal Interest

Last year I was involved with the Arts and Humanities Ambassadors program. It is a group of diverse students studying majors under the College of Arts and Humanities and after an application process these students then serve as mentors to younger current students as well as prospective students. There is a 1-credit class every other week where the ambassadors discuss different leadership tactics and current projects. I observed the class for this Monday.

Though this group of students is supposed to represent a driven team of students such as the football team in Remember the Titans, the cafeteria scene from Mean Girls might be more accurate. When I was a part of this program last year I could feel the tension and differences within the group, but as I sat in and observed this made it more prominent.

Leaders or Posers?

On good a day, the ambassadors sit Socratic seminar style (desks in an open circle). Fortunately, this was one of those "good" days. The leader of the program would be Darius... or Damian in this example. He is an admissions counselor for the College and runs the Ambassadors program. He was the instructor during my year too. I always felt that everyone viewed him with respect, yet as a friend. When I was observing the class, I noticed how he takes control by being the one to start and end the class, but during class he will pose a topic and let the students self-discuss. This style of instructing gives boundaries while letting the ambassadors lead for themselves.

Then we move onto the ambassadors themselves. Some of them have changed out since I was last in the program, but a few have stayed. Even so, it looked like the stereotypes were still there. The Monday I observed, the class was practicing responses for being on a panel for prospective students.

You have Regina George- who always has to have the last say about any topic and her idea of leadership is the only correct one that there is. She's basically the "over-achiever" and likes to brag about it. So when a "prospective student" asks about involvement on campus, Regina speaks up that UMD has lots of clubs to join and she's on eight of them and is captain of most, so she should know.

Then you have the Gretchen Wieners of the group who complains about how much work she has. When the possible question is "How has ARHU helped you in your post-graduate career search?",
she answers "Well I'm a linguistics major and there aren't really any jobs out there for me so..."

Karen Smith is also there too... She's just in the class for a good time and fortunately is one of the few people with a likable personality.

List goes on with the athletes, the nerds, the know-it-alls, the wannabes, and the few normal kids thrown in.

So what is this group supposed to be doing?

Keep in mind that the purpose of this organization is to use the experience of current students to get prospective students excited about UMD and to help lost younger students to no longer be confused. The word "ambassador" almost gives this idea of being regal and a leader or mentor.

It's unfortunate that while many of these students have the academics and extracurriculars to apply to this program, they do not have a value-driven heart. They join the program because it's just another thing they can add to their list of activities for jobs and grad school, while actually joining the program because they want to make a difference in the future student body of the University of Maryland.

A class session will typically have everyone speaking equally with understanding and open-minds of one-another, but sometimes arguments break out when there are differences in ideals and ideas.

Many of the students are quick to give their opinion on what the College of ARHU could be doing better, but don't actually lift a finger to help better the situation.

Are we making a difference?

The actual work of the program reflects it's values. Outside of class, Damian makes sure that the ambassadors sign up for certain open houses, panels, and other events going on on campus that involve prospective students. To a prospective student and parent, these kids may seem prepared, ideal, and a
true UMD student, but the truth of the matter is that this group of ambassadors does not reflect the entire student body of ARHU, only a part of it.

I feel that the program has a lot of potential for the university. What's a better way to answer kids questions than with answers from people who have recently been in that position? But the program itself should be facilitated by its students less like the lunch room, and more like the gym room scene of Mean Girls where everyone comes together and listens to each other while suspending their own self-obsessions. The students should be working towards something great for this university, not just towards a notch on their resumes.

I think a lot of this can be applied to many groups on campus. It's easy for students to join a group because they like the padding to their resumes, but there are only a handfull of Cadys out there who want to join a group to make a difference.

Last remarks from Cady and me

After I "sat on the balcony" and reflected on the defaults of this group, I feel that only a quote from Cady Heron is appropriate at this time:
Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George's life definitely didn't make me any happier. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.