Thinking back to my first semester joining LBSA, I would not have thought that I would be in this position the following semester. The first semester I joined I was on a path to simply go to my classes and show up to work. I had somehow lost my drive to be as busy as I used to be when I was living at home and involved in school and outreach programs. Luckily, I found LBSA and made it work so that I had time to join a committee as well. Joining the membership committee was fun and a new experience since I did not know about Mailchimp and did not expect to learn a little bit of marketing in the process. I had had previous experience in a smaller scale in terms of acting as a bridge between professors and students in an outreach program at my community college, but with LBSA I learned how to reach more people and in a more marketable way. A highlight of my time in the committee was when I was handed over the reins and sent out my first email, there was even a little pop up celebration from Mailchimp saying “I did it!” I knew it was a corny pop up, but it meant more to me than that because it had my name attached to the email. When it came around to when applications opened up for available positions on the board, I was asked by a
couple of board members if I was interested in joining, but my immediate response was that I was too busy as a manager at the time and didn’t think I would be able to commit so much time to the board as I could. However, after that I reflected on my time since I had transferred to SJSU and my behaviors so far. I could easily say that I was at my happiest whenever I was doing something involving LBSA. Long story short, I worked things out at work and ended up joining the board for Spring 2020. I had joined the LBSA familia and felt like it was the best decision I had made. Brainstorming ideas with the board members to create great experiences for new and existing members was so thrilling as well as being surrounded by people who had similar interests and connecting with them. A perk was definitely creating friendships that I know will last a long time. Of course this semester has and is going to be different than an in person semester but it’s giving us a chance to be even more creative to give everyone a chance to network with people in areas that one might be interested. After all, our mission still stands to help you be successful professionals of tomorrow.
-Emily Acosta