Starting my second year at GCU, I had the honor of being accepted onto the inaugural Spiritual Formation student leadership team. With the program being only one year old, I was given unique opportunities to develop it further and leave a legacy. For instance, I launched its Instagram page from scratch in 2022 as well as the podcast this spring semester. After two years of dedication to the program, I was graciously offered a senior leadership position in my third and final year as the marketing and hospitality team lead. In this role, I continued to create Instagram content, design promotional materials and manage all aspects of the podcast — writing scripts, scheduling, recording, editing and publishing.
Additionally, I took on a new responsibility of overseeing collaboration with other team members in carrying out hospitality initiatives — coming up with creative ideas and implementing ways to uniquely serve those involved in the program and beyond.
I am thankful for how my leadership role aligned well with my area of study. The skills I developed in my communications courses (i.e. Conflict and Negotiation, Small Group Communication, Digital Media and Culture, and Design Thinking) were sharpened as I found ways to apply them directly to my role. I even was able to center my capstone multimedia project around the program, incorporating some of my existing work on the team.
Beyond fulfilling my creative responsibilities, my years on Spiritual Formation also grew my professionalism in other practical ways. Through training sessions, personal assessments, meetings with my exceptional supervisor and interviews with prospective team members, I got a unique glimpse into the professional world. I learned proper time management, effective verbal and written communication, humility, how to care for team members and the value of going above and beyond what’s expected.
Along with student leadership, during my junior and senior years, I worked remotely as a part-time student digital content specialist for Grand Canyon Education (GCE), GCU’s service partner. In this role, I refined my writing and editing skills, learned SEO best practices and successfully managed multiple projects with competing deadlines.
These experiences have equipped me with the skills, confidence and work ethic needed to thrive in both personal and professional settings after graduation.
