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• 1 2023-03-01T13:06:32-05:00 Chelsea Guo - Leadership Success and Succession 11 splash 2023-05-02T16:47:50-04:00 I'm Chelsea, and I'm a junior in Adams House studying Sociology with a secondary in Educational Studies. I'm incredibly proud of my involvement in various student organizations in college, particularly in two organizations: Chinatown Afterschool Program (CHAP) and Datamatch. In both of these organizations, I held multiple years of leadership positions including executive leadership positions, and transitioning from a service background to leading a huge pre-professional organization was a big shift for me! I've learned so much from my time as a leader and so much from the students I've been honored to call my co-leads and members. 
• 1 2023-05-01T18:01:30-04:00 Chelsea's Story of Self 10 plain 2023-05-02T19:49:39-04:00 Hi, I’m Chelsea! I’m a junior in Adams studying Sociology and Educational Studies. As you might be able to guess from that particular combo, I’m a big fan of student organizations and I genuinely think they changed my life. From my middle school Science Olympiad team until now, I’ve been so lucky to be a part of so many groups that dedicate an insane number of hours to a particular project or mission. I’ve been even luckier to learn from amazing leaders who were my peers and friends, and (hopefully) pass on that sense of belonging and triumph to others.

  Leadership is a very different concept to me now than it was in middle school. I think it took a lot of trial and error, reflection, and of course, making mistakes to figure out the key tenets of a leadership that I knew I could portray. I don’t think I’m naturally the most charismatic, commanding, or organized person, and it took a long time before I felt comfortable asking people to share in a particular vision of action with me.

  In college, I’ve mainly been part of two organizations: Chinatown Afterschool (CHAP), which is a service organization, and Datamatch, a pre-professional organization. I was an executive director of CHAP as a sophomore and remember feeling incredibly regretful about not doing as much as I could have with that position. In fact, I cried on my last day -- wondering if I had wasted this wonderful opportunity to give back and transform a community that meant so much to me. This year, as a junior and co-President of Datamatch, I realized that so many of the lessons I learned from my experience in CHAP were incredibly applicable and transferable to an organization that seemed so different. I realized that my leadership style can be unique, and if I take the time to decide what and how I can contribute, I can not only improve this organization, but develop the leadership capabilities of others as well.

  This project has meant so much to me to explore what it means to be a leader, how to empower others to be leaders, and how to make sure a group can maintain itself and grow even after you’re gone. I hope that it can serve as a guide for future leaders to continue asking and answering these questions.