President

Speeches

Questions

1. How informed are you on communications in the district such as the district constitution, emails from the NCD President, and emails from Bang Co? 
   • (Christiana) I would like to say that I am pretty informed on the communications in the district. I receive and read the emails from Bang Co. I frequent the KKPSI NCD instagram page because they always seem to have something cool going on. The Kappa Kappa Psi national website is very, very helpful because it has a chapter directory where you can find contact information for all of the chapters on a national level.
   • (Kaia) As of right now I receive the general member emails from both the NCD President and Bang Co, so I’m familiar with the email side of things. While I haven’t looked into other forms of communication, I would absolutely be willing to in order to strengthen our ties to the District and National Chapters. I haven’t looked through the district constitution, but have read through the national constitution and can see the similarities between our constitution and theirs.
   • (Nova) I do make sure to read every email that I get both from the national team, and the NCD district, so I’m usually up to date on the fraternity’s activities.
2. How informed are you on district events and how will you promote attendance at district events? (NCD Con, MER, Block Events, Workshops, Zoom Workshops)
   • (Christiana) So far, I have attended a district workshop at the University of Michigan back in February of this year and as of the time of these elections, I would have attended district convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Attending that workshop was a really, really cool experience. Bridging the connection between other chapters in our district was one of the coolest things I’ve seen. Most of us had no clue who each other was and what schools we came from but we all bonded on the fact that we are all brothers of the same fraternity. We were all there for the same reasons. I want to give 3 reasons why attending district events is important and why you should consider going. One reason is that there is so much more to Kappa Kappa Psi than just what our chapter is doing. There are dozens of other chapters and one way we can form connections with them is to go to district events and mingle. There is so much we can learn from them. Another reason is that like many of the career paths, building your network and social capital is very important. You never know who you will meet and what connections that they will have. That could be very beneficial to your future. My third reason is that it is just fun and educational. The best two things! I have learned so much by just attending one workshop. They educate you on things KKPSI related but they also educate you on life while making time to do fun little icebreakers and games. I strongly feel that attending district events is so beneficial.
   • (Kaia) I got familiar with the National Convention and weekend workshops through my exposure to them this semester, and have seen the other events in the emails received from the district/national chapters.
   • (Nova) I keep up with any correspondence or detailing what events are being held for our district and what they entail. I would definitely try to mention all the events happening in the district in a more interesting way to try and get people at least thinking about going.
3. Describe your communication and organizational skills.
   • (Christiana) I believe that my communications and organization skills are quite good. I am able to respond in a timely manner and I communicate in a very professional manner when it is appropriate. I would like to disclose that I do have slight social anxiety but it never inhibits me getting my tasks and work done. I have come a very long way from where I started and I am continuing to grow and improve. As for my organizational skills, I have various methods. For time management, I keep a physical planner but I also utilize google calendar as well. I do really enjoy using google drive for documents and other things like school work. I do not have a type A personality but I do enjoy living an organized life.
   • (Kaia) I try to make myself as available for communication as I can, whether it be electronically or in person, and do my best to provide clarity to the things I say. I organize both my schoolwork and extracurricular activities using a to-do list in Google calendar, which provides me with frequent reminders and allows me to easily see what all has to be done. I really like organizing files (in this case Google drive) in ways that make them easy to access and understand how they’re arranged.
   • (Nova) My organizational skills are pretty good. I always make sure to organize things as if someone else had to go through it whether it’s files, papers, etc. My communication skills are pretty good. I always try to answer and communicate with others as soon as possible, although sometimes when I’m busy it can take a while.
4. What does conflict resolution mean to you? How do you balance having tough conversations and being positive/kind?
   • (Christiana) Conflict resolution to me means ending a disagreement and trying to reach a positive end result while being understanding of both sides. Sometimes this is a very hard thing to do based on the circumstances presented. I like to think of conflict resolutions as growth. Having tough conversations is a part of life and at one point or another, everyone will have to face those conversations. I balance having tough conversations and being positive/nice by having the most open mind you can and being patient and calm. Nothing will ever get done if the parties involved are not civil with each other. If there is no way of that being attainable and depending on time constraints and circumstances of the conflict, I would like to disband and reconvene when the parties involved have had more time to think and digest the conflict on hand.
   • (Kaia) Conflict resolution to me means finding a solution to problems that benefit as many people as possible and can be done quickly and efficiently. I’ve found everybody responds differently to problems that require conflict resolution, so each individual situation needs a different balance of positivity and being blunt. I would approach every circumstance as brand new and adjust my strategies depending on the responses of the person I’m communicating with so solutions can be thought of without upsetting anybody.
   • (Nova) Conflict resolution is making sure to solve the problem in a way that deescalates the situation. Not everyone is going to always be happy after a hard conversation or conflict, but making sure that everyone feels they are being heard while also addressing the problem at hand is the key to effective and peaceful conflict resolution. If it gets out of hand, it’s also important to be direct and tough while still being respectful to the other person.
5. How do you exemplify our pillars (Leadership, Musicianship, Brotherhood, Service)?
   • (Christiana) I have served in several leadership roles over the years. I served in leadership in high school and I have coached several youth sports teams over the years. I was also a customer experience manager at Michael’s over the span of two years. I am involved in two different ensembles: Marching Band and University Band. I also dabble in playing the guitar and very poorly, the piano. I have served on the brotherhood committee for the entirety of this year. I have helped plan and execute all of the brotherhood this year. I have done many service events over the years. I am a Thompson scholar so that requires me to complete a minimum of 20 service hours over the course of the academic year. I have helped out at my high school alma mater timing swim meets since I’ve graduated.
   • (Kaia) I’ve held multiple leadership positions not only in KKPSI, but in almost everything I’ve done. I participate in as many ensembles as I can and try to do our service events whenever possible, especially if it’s the difference between nobody being there. I feel a connection to everyone in KKPSI because we all have a common goal of serving the bands, and the majority of my favorite events we’ve had are brotherhood events.
   • (Nova) I think that I’ve exemplified Leadership in getting our new website started and a main focus of our Tech chair. After being dormant for years, it was hard to even want to begin or know where to start, but I was able to contact those necessary and get a new project going for our chapter. I think I’ve served our chapter both with my current position and the work that I’ve done in both committees that I currently serve on. I have always strived to do my best in the music ensembles I am in, and I always try my best to learn our fraternity songs so that I can contribute to our sound. I also try to make it to all of the Brotherhood events I can, and I love spending time with and working with our brothers to achieve great things both inside and outside the fraternity.
6. Describe in a few words what makes a good president. 
   • (Christiana) I believe that a good president is accountable, approachable, passionate, has integrity and looks forward to trying and improving at all of the tasks at hand. Promoting unity within the organization you serve is very important.
   • (Kaia) Someone who’s approachable, understanding/open, organized, and resourceful.
   • (Nova) A good president is someone who the whole chapter can look up to for both direction and advice. They should be someone who can help everyone in the chapter achieve the best they can do, and encourage members to become more active. They should also be good at representing the chapter and what it stands for to the outside world.
7. What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses with being in a leadership position?
   • (Christiana) Some of my biggest strengths are that I have good judgment of knowing what I can handle and what I cannot. I am a detail oriented person and very productive. I love to help where I can and work for the best interest of the group. Some of my biggest weaknesses are that I put pressure on myself and sometimes stress. I am still working on being self forgiving when I do something wrong. On the flip side, being detail oriented can have its downsides.
   • (Kaia) My biggest strength is I believe I have all of the attributes above: I want to be approachable and open to everyone, even if they’re someone who may not share my beliefs or I don’t get along with. I try my best to be resourceful by knowing where to get information and being knowledgeable about things myself, and I’ve been told by many that I’m very organized. My biggest weakness is I take on too much responsibility; when I’m in a leadership position, I often find myself doing work that doesn’t fall under what I was elected to do. Being an officer in KKPSI, I rarely found myself taking on extra work due to how many people we have to take care of fraternity business.
   • (Nova) My biggest strengths in being in this position would definitely be my drive to work hard and get things done, my ability to be a neutral party when it comes to members and possible problems, and my skills in solving problems. Some weaknesses would be that I’ve never held a very high position in an organization like this, so I might need some help or guidance in the beginning. I can also be a busy person at times, but I plan on putting as much time as I can into this position.
8. Why is delegation important, and how do you plan to delegate tasks in this role?
   • (Christiana) Delegation is a very important aspect. Delegation is important because it takes tasks and splits them among a group of people. It gives others the opportunity to grow and learn and it also makes sure that one person isn’t doing all of the work. That can be a very slippery slope and eventually lead to burn out. I feel like it is also important because it gives purpose and makes everyone included and essential to the task at hand. I plan on delegating tasks by choosing people according to their skill sets but also their want to be involved. You can choose someone who checks all of the boxes for a job but I feel like if someone has a desire to learn a task, it could be an essential part of the learning process. Everyone starts somewhere.
   • (Kaia) I think delegation is important so people don’t get overwhelmed, and there’s enough focus on each individual thing needing to get done so it’s done well and in a timely manner. I plan to delegate tasks by allowing everybody to do the work they need to as a baseline, and to spread tasks out among officers or general members if something is too taxing or needs more than one person’s attention.
   • (Nova) Delegation is important because otherwise, you will get very stressed out. We’re all busy people here on campus, and being in a KKP leader role does not make it any easier. Delegating tasks for me is simple. I want to give people the tasks that I (and they) think they would excel in. Like if we needed a quick website for elections, I would ask someone who might be good with a software like that.
9. Do you have any ideas on improving the chapter or branching into the community?
   • (Christiana) I feel like our chapter is in the midst of changing some things and improving currently. I would love for our chapter to be more involved with district endeavors. I feel like we are slightly isolated. There is so much to learn from other chapters in our district. They’re also really really cool 😎
   • (Kaia) I hope to improve the chapter by encouraging attending non mandatory events and making sure no service activity goes unattended. I noticed this year that attendance for multiple events was low, and I feel our lack of willingness to do ”not required” things is our biggest area to improve on. I hope to branch into the community by finding more potential members who have love for music that may not already be participating in ensembles. I think this is very achievable by posting recruitment events in more places than just the PAC and having more events/outreach that includes everyone at GVSU.
   • (Nova) One of the things that I would address is how we handle brotherhood and service events. Brotherhood especially changed this semester but it didn’t necessarily work out, so I think talking through how we want to execute these events would help get more people in the chapter interested in them. As for branching out, I think contacting other chapters is a good idea. We do a lot for the music community here, and we don’t interact a lot with other chapters, so I think events where either we invite others to us, or we go to other chapters would be a cool way to meet new people in KKP. 
10. What do you love about Kappa Kappa Psi?
    • (Christiana) There are so many things I love about Kappa Kappa Psi. One thing is the community we have. Pulling from my own personal experience, it is so nice to have a peer support system outside of the other organizations I am in and outside of my biological family. I have met so many great people while being in Kappa Kappa Psi and I wouldn’t change anything. Another reason why I love Kappa Kappa Psi is the service aspect. I feel like we are all in this fraternity together because we love music and we love service. Being given the opportunity to serve the music program here at GVSU is such a great opportunity.
    • (Kaia) I love that we’re able to implement two really important things, music and service, in a way that helps an entire community of people. I also love how we feel like a big family (at least to me) rather than a group of people who are there to do service and nothing else. This aspect was what drew me into KKPSI, and it’s something I felt we’ve been able to continue doing well since I joined.
    • (Nova) I love the sense of community it brings me. I know this comes up a lot, but it’s the reason that most of us joined and stayed in the fraternity. The service we do for our programs is wonderful and makes it feel like I’m giving back to others, and I love the opportunities the chapter affords me, but brotherhood and community are the reason I love KKP. Spending time and getting to know people while I go through one of the hardest stretches of my life, really helps me in terms of staying sane.
11. Why do you want to be President?
    • (Christiana) I want to be president of Kappa Kappa Psi because I have this desire to be a part of something great. I want to lead and represent our chapter because we have so much potential. Our organization is so amazing and I cannot see myself anywhere else. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be in this position, I probably would have not believed it. I want to be challenged, I want to grow and improve and most importantly, I want to promote the growth and health of the chapter. I heard a phrase at one of the district workshops earlier in the year and it was “Leave it better than I found it” and that is exactly what I would strive to do.
    • (Kaia) I have pride in being a member of KKPSI and it’s something I look forward to every time we have an event, and I want an opportunity to be even more involved. The thing I loved most about being secretary this year was the fact I felt like I was making a difference in our fraternity, and I feel I could make an even bigger impact being President. I want to continue doing the great things we’ve implemented this year, and I think there’s even more we could accomplish next year.
    • (Nova) I want to be President because of the impact I’ll be able to have on the chapter. I would get to help us through the sort of transition we’ve had this year, and make a difference in how we as a chapter fulfill our duties and exemplify our pillars.