Juggling three organizations, 15 hours of academic work and still managing a social life? Sounds daunting, but sophomore Amanda Finney does it with flying colors, and her impact on campus doesn’t go unnoticed.
As soon as we sat down with Amanda, we knew we were meeting with an influential social activist on campus. Only a sophomore, Amanda has been involved in Wake TV, Native American Students Association (NASA), Project Pumpkin, Wake ‘N Shake, Ambassadors to Admissions as a tour guide, Vagina Monologues and Kappa Beta Gamma. Wow. How does she juggle it all?
You may recognize her infectious smile and spunky personality from her popular WAKE TV segment, “What the Forest.” Amanda uses this air time to vent about current Wake Forest student frustrations. Parking spaces, anyone?
Or maybe you’ve seen her representing the Native American Students Association? Yes, collegiettes™, this organization exists on our own Wake Forest campus, and Amanda is the president! As a member of the Cherokee and Lumbee tribes, Amanda proudly represents her heritage here at Wake.
“We want people to be aware of cultures and traditions that still exist among native peoples,” explains Amanda. “We don’t live in teepees or anything anymore. We are transitioning into the modern world”.
As the president of NASA, Amanda helps plan events for November’s Native American Heritage Month, as well as an additional annual spring event. This year, NASA brought well-known Cherokee singer, Michael Jacobs, to perform on campus. Amanda also serves as Miss Teen Cherokee of South Carolina with her uncle, the chief of the South Carolina Cherokee tribe.
Amanda hopes NASA will bring together Native American students who wouldn’t otherwise meet. “We want to tie together people of different interests,” says Amanda. “We get all people from different majors and groups.”
Pretty impressive, right? Have we mentioned she met President Obama? This past summer, Amanda served as a White House Correspondents’ Office intern. She worked as a liaison between students and President Obama by reading letters and listening to their concerns.
So what’s next for Amanda? She will be studying abroad in Madrid this coming fall. Upon returning to Wake, she wants to narrow her focus and continue to take on leadership roles. Post grad, she is interested in Teach for America. She stresses the importance of the program: “I think it’s so crucial for our future generation and the education system as a whole for America.”
But what we love most about Amanda is her desire to unite Wake collegiettes™ as a force for the common good. “We have so many great girls doing great things that if we just get together and incorporate each individual’s talents, we can make a positive difference,” says Amanda.
With all these organizations and responsibilities, Amanda is somehow still able to keep her head on straight and a smile on her face. She reminds us of the important things in life. “Don’t take life too seriously,” she explains. “It’s better to laugh than just freak out. Especially at Wake with so many serious things, you just need to laugh . . . until you cry.” Amanda’s involvement impacts our Wake community and so can you, collegiettes™. You can’t make an impact without getting involved!