Meet Emily Willow, a junior Nursing major. As a Nursing major, Emily stays pretty busy, but she is also a Community Assistant (CA) in Suites on Pratt this year.
Not only is Emily a CA in Suites on Pratt, but she is also the Vice President of National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH). As the VP of NRHH, Emily helps run meetings and keeps track of what members are doing for the organization. She also helps put on programs with her fellow executive board members and run the induction ceremonies for new members.
As a CA, Emily puts on programs for residents to attend and lives on the floor with residents as a leader who provides a form of guidance to them when they are not sure of what to do or what is happening. Residents also come to her when they are having issues and need support. Although there are many rewarding parts of being a CA, Emily says that her favorite is “when residents come to me and ask for advice or guidance in something. It is nice to spend time with them and get to know them a little bit more than before. I have helped many residents learn different things about IUP and about different resources. I love when I see a resident a day or two after I helped them and they say, “Thank you.” Knowing that I made a difference in someone’s day, week, or life means the world to me.”
Through IUP, Emily has had the opportunity to experience a national conference. This past summer she went to the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH 2016). Emily said, “It was one of the most amazing experiences in my entire life. The conference took place at the University of Delaware, and IUP students got to live on a floor with many other Pennsylvania universities. I got to meet people from across the country and make a lot of new friends, while learning about different ways to improve IUP’s chapter for NRHH. Multiple students put on programs about how to be better leaders and how to bring out leadership in others, so it was a great learning experience that I could bring back for NRHH and for being a CA.”
Although her time at IUP is winding down quickly, Emily doesn’t even want to begin to think about leaving because of how much she is enjoying herself at IUP. She is looking forward to making more friends and just continuing to make memories while eating chicken nuggets at Folgers!
Emily’s words of wisdom to the IUP community, but especially the freshmen: “You HAVE to join a club, Greek life, anything! You can’t just float by and do nothing, you’ll be miserable. Go to IUP Day in the fall or Winter Warm-Up in the spring because every club on campus will set up and you can sign up for anything you want. There is so much to do at IUP, don’t let it slip through your fingers.”
When asked what gets her through the tough days, Emily said that her mom and her boyfriend are her biggest supporters. Emily’s favorite quote is “Everything happens for a reason.” As a strong believer in fate, she tries not to fear when something isn’t going as she had originally planned.
If you see Emily on campus be sure to say hi or just smile at her, you won’t regret it!