Deans Scholars

I am going to start by talking about the Deans Scholars organization, and the positive impact it has had on me and my future. If it wasn't for this scholarship organization I would most likely not be at Wichita State. However, if I had ended up at Wichita State I imagine my experience would have been much different without Deans Scholars. The reason Deans Scholars is so different from any other scholarship organization is it is actually a student organization as well. Christine Schneikart-Leubbe was the founder of the program and through the years she shaped the program into something that was incredibly beneficial to the students.

She made it a requirement for students to be involved in one other student organization, complete sixteen community service hours a semester, maintain good grades, live in the dorms, and write reflections on various things throughout the year. This impacted me in such an incredibly positive way it is almost hard to describe. Due to the student organization rule I started checking out fraternities the summer before my freshman year. After a difficult summer and some bruises along the way I eventually ended up at Phi Delta Theta. I will talk more later about how much of an impact Phi Delt has had on my life, but I only joined Phi Delt because of the Deans Scholars program. Reflecting on all of the requirements with Deans Scholars it becomes so clear to me how beneficial all of the requirements were to the students. Everyone complained about them and no one understood how lucky they were.

The dorms also were an incredible experience I would have not gotten without Deans Scholars. I made so many friends and have so many wonderful memories from my time in the dorms. It is actually the reason I joined the Barton International Group which along with Phi Delt has had a huge impact on my life. My roommate in the dorms encouraged me to apply for the organization the day of the deadline, and I decided to do it at the last second. I was accepted into the group, and the blessings I have received from the group just keep coming. I will have another blog post dedicated to BIG later.

The community service requirement is also very rewarding. I do my volunteer work at the Lords Diner, and its a wonderful experience. It also looks very good on a resume, and its good to be able to talk about in an interview. Everything Christine required us to do was geared towards us being successful we were all just too short-sighted to realize it at the time. Student involvement, good grades, and community service are all things employers are looking for in potential employees. My resume right now is a direct result of the Deans Scholar program. My involvement in the Deans Scholars program is not as much as it has been in the past because of my other involvements, but the program will always hold a special place in my heart because of the impact it had on my life. I thank Christine for everything she did for me.