USITT MNSU Student Chapter
For the 2021-2022 school year, I served as the vice president of MNSU USITT Student Chapter. This is a group that aims to connect students interested in theatrical technology and design to professionals in the field across the country. We held monthly meetings, workshops, fundraisers, and attended the National Conference in Baltimore. As the vice president, I worked to set up various workshops that would offer a wide range of experiences. I also set up various fundraisers to raise funds that would cover a portion of housing in Baltimore. Scott Anderson was the advisor of the chapter for the spring semester, and conducted my performance evaluation. Based on the evaluation, the areas I need to work the most on are communication skills and problem solving. During this school year, there were several instances that allowed me to develop both of these skills.
I learned a great deal about the importance of roles within different team settings. One member of our board was able to delegate tasks, but did not take on any of the work themselves. This created some frustration within the board because all the tasks were being passed on to us. Since a great deal of those tasks were passed on to me, I had to learn how to balance doing everything myself versus knowing when to ask for help. In addition to being given a great deal of work, this particular member did not know how to delegate tasks to people based on their strengths. This created some frustrating situations. An example of this is a task would be to a member who didn’t quite know how to handle it, but I would. The rest of the board learned to work together to complete the work, even when a board member created obstacles to finishing it. There were times where the amount of work felt overwhelming,
but I was able to find others who would be able to help with the tasks. I learned that this setting makes for a much more productive team. One leadership style that I have found to be effective is finding ways to involve your team at all stages. I noticed more people would show up to our monthly meetings if I would personally ask them to attend, and ask them what types of events or workshops they would like to attend. When I first started my college career, my personal philosophy on leadership was that a good leader finds a way to make everyone happy. Over time, this has evolved into finding ways to involve everyone. If I find ways to involve people that they enjoy, everyone involved will benefit. I have also learned that sometimes decisions that are made may leave some members unhappy. Sometimes being a good leader means that you make the decision best for the group, even if some parts don’t agree with it.
This philosophy will play an important part in my future career. As someone who wants to have a leadership position, I need to have a strong idea of what I believe to be a good leader. As a designer or stage manager, there are several people who will rely on me. Being involved in USITT has allowed me to develop and apply skills that I have gained from previous experiences. I have continued to improve on skills such as standing my ground and being confident in my decisions. I have also learned how to use past experiences to help prevent conflict in the future. My leadership philosophy will allow for the opportunity to work as an effective team.