Meet Corie Fay, Pi Beta Phi’s Premier Vice President of Philanthropy (VPP). She took some time out of her hectic schedule this week to sit down and chat with me about her responsibilities and all that she’s learned.
What’s your role as VPP?
The Vice President of Philanthropy is in charge of all of the chapter’s service and philanthropy efforts. I coordinate fundraising benefiting Pi Beta Phi philanthropies (Foundation and First Book), coordinate literacy service projects, coordinate with local philanthropic and community service projects, and educate members on other philanthropies and service projects happening in the Greek & UConn community.
I know you’re in charge of your philanthropy. What is it and whom does it benefit? How did you manage to bring it all together? What were some challenges you faced putting this event together?
At Pi Beta Phi we believe in the power of reading. When one in four children are functionally illiterate, we believe that that is one too many. Our umbrella philanthropic effort is based around literacy, and promoting reading rates and enthusiasm across North America. One of the best parts about Greek Life is that every organization on campus has a signature event that happens in the spring or fall. I’ve been working for a most of the semester. It starts with contacting sponsors and then is a continuing process up until the the day of. In terms of challenges, it’s always tough with scheduling because there are so many events going in the early fall. Our event actually falls on the same day as Kappa Sigma’s Military Heroes Bowl, but I am fortunate to be very good friends with their philanthropy chair and we worked out a way to cross promote the event.
Do you find it challenging balancing your role and life? How do you manage to find a healthy balance? What advice do you have for others struggling to get more involved and keep their grades up?
Balancing exec with the rest of my life is definitely challenging. One of the biggest things that I have learned in college is that time management is always the key to being able to do what you want to do. As a senior I’ve figured out how to balance exec along with other activities (the UConn Sailing Team, tutoring at a local middle school, keeping up with school work…etc.) with a few key strategies.
- There is always enough time. One of the biggest complaints that I hear as a college student is that there “isn’t enough time.” If you didn’t get something done in time, you just didn’t prioritize as urgent enough to do it before something else.
-  If you’re having trouble being motivated, start with something small. Sometimes when I sit down and know what I have a lot of work to do, I’ll get my mind on the right track by sending an quick and easy email that takes 5 minutes but needs to get done. When you get the ball rolling, it makes accomplishing bigger tasks look a lot more manageable.
- Reply to emails, texts and calls right away if it can be done in two minutes or less. Otherwise you’ll fall into the bad habit of labeling messages as “later problems” and communication is sometimes key to getting things done.
- Always take notes. When I have a ton of things going on everyday, ideas frequently pop into my head that I then forget just as quickly. It doesn’t matter if it’s a notebook in your backpack or a running list on your phone – just write it down.
- Use the 20 minute rule. If I’m having a really hard time getting started on something and it’s been 20 minutes, I’ll switch tasks to keep my productivity and motivation up, and come back to that task later.
- Although balancing everything can sometimes be tough, I am so grateful to be elected VP Philanthropy and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. If you have the chance to be on an executive board, especially in a position that benefits others, I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity.