TRUE LIFE // I WASN'T SLATED FOR THE POSITION I WANTED

There is nothing more disheartening than not getting the position you wanted when slating comes around. Many of us feel that we worked our butts off and deserve that position because of the hard work and dedication we made to our chapter. Sometimes our sights are set on the coveted President position, which is what I wanted... twice. Both times I "ran" against the same girl who ended up getting the position twice. 

The first time I wasn't slated as President, I was completely heartbroken. I had just come off of a year as VP of Membership and thought for sure I had the Presidency in the bag. My big was the current President and my grand big and great grand big had been Presidents. It was a family tradition and I felt like I let the family down. I happily took my position as VP of Recruitment and knew that I had another year to be President. The past two VPs of Recruitment had ascended to President so I knew that was my chance.

Well, after a very successful formal recruitment I ran again. This time it turned a little ugly. The slating committee presented the slate with me not listed as President. It didn't pass. They moved me to President. It didn't pass. Then we moved to voting by position. The current President and I switched our names our for President no less than five times. Finally, we voted and the current President was re-elected and I was slated for VP of Membership.

This time I was a lot less upset, but still didn't understand. That was until that summer. We were preparing for the upcoming semester when we found out our VP of Recruitment quit. No one had ever been in the position before except me and the current President. We talked it out and decided I would do both Recruitment and Membership. I loved it! Our chapter had the best recruitment ever. We had 100% retention with our new members from Bid Day to Initiation. Our chapter was closer than we had been since before I joined. I don't attribute this all to me by any means, but I know its because we were all in the positions we were supposed to be in.

I graduated that semester and finally realized that while I thought I was right for the Presidency, the Presidency wasn't right for me. I didn't have the personality that was right for the duties of that position. I loved planning events and getting to know the new members and coming up with fun activities for them and staying for three hours longer than everyone else on meeting days because I had exec. and new member meetings. While I think I would have been a great President, I was an even better at Membership and Recruitment. It fit me better and the Presidency fit the other girl better.

A lot of times we get our sights set on something only to have it "taken away from us." Instead of thinking of it as if everyone is against you, think about the good of your chapter. Not everyone is out to get you even though it may feel that way at the time. If you were recently slated for a position that you didn't expect, think about how you can make that position yours instead of dwelling on not getting the position you wanted. I know it can be tough, but you are where are for a reason. Take it and run with it!