Hannah Denys, member of the Baker College Student Life Leadership Council
As a founding member of the Student Life Leadership Council (SLLC), I’m excited to talk about the many benefits of being a part of this amazing, student-led council!
As an SLLC member, one of the key benefits you’ll get out of joining the council is gaining a leader’s skill set and feeling more confident in your leadership abilities. This is definitely enforced from the beginning of membership. During our training, we’ve talked about ways to be leaders on social media and how to create the best image for Baker College. We’ve also discussed and created activities that encourage students to participate in school events. And we’ve received DEI training and education on how to be leaders and help others in unconventional situations. We are given opportunities throughout the year to attend leadership Zoom classes or summits taught by professionals. We also have the chance to run for office in the council. We have many positions to run for such as president, vice president, secretary, and the promotions team.
We also engage with our local businesses and stakeholders, and some have even reached out to us to collaborate! Last fall, another member and I were given the opportunity to team up with Mercy Health and create their campaign posters for the “CLICK for Babies” fundraiser they were holding at the time. It was great because we began a great relationship with the nurses there, and we saw our work posted up on the hospital walls! It was very rewarding to see that we could help people in the community for a great cause and see the impact our advertisements were making.
Another benefit of joining the SLLC is that we develop and create new activities for students to get involved in. People sometimes wonder who actually plans events or who they can contact if they have an idea, and it’s us! We are in charge of planning and hosting Student Life events on campus. The planning process is not too difficult, and new ideas are always encouraged. We brainstorm throughout the year what activities we can hold now, given the circumstances related to COVID, and what activities we can try to do later once in-person activities open up again. It’s a lot of fun because no idea is a bad idea, and we’ve come up with some really awesome events that have had great turnouts. Some examples of the events that the SLLC has hosted either virtually or in-person over the past year are the Valentine’s Day card-making social, the Selfie Scavenger Hunt, the Door Decorating Contest, and an Ice Cream Social.
We also get social media training and promote our events on our own social media pages. During the training, we discussed the process to get your event advertised on the official Baker College Instagram page. Yes, that’s right, your own approved event can be on our college social media pages! Baker’s social media manager explained the submission process and best practices, which helps us later on when we want to promote events on our pages and the college’s pages. It’s essential to promote student life activities to see a high turnout for all of these events!
We also get cool gear and an incredible scholarship! As an SLLC member, you get a $2,200 scholarship per semester, equivalent to the cost of student housing. You also get a polo and quarter-zip shirt, which are incredibly comfy, might I add. It’s just a little added bonus to the already excellent benefits we receive!
I would highly recommend everyone apply to become a member of the SLLC, and hopefully, students will consider it after reading this blog! It’s a great chance to meet new people here at Baker College and engage with community leaders. You can gain beneficial leadership skills that will be essential in any career path. You can also come up with original ideas for student events. YOU are what makes this council a success as a student leader!
To learn more about joining the SLLC, visit the Student Life Leadership Council page on My Baker.
