LDRS Podcast #1

Allie Pearl is the host of the Senior Season Podcast Leadership Edition. She talks about her leadership experiences in her senior year at Virginia Tech. She is majoring in sports media and analytics with a minor in leadership and social change. Allie is involved in Chi Omega sorority and works with Hooky Vision in the athletics department. She is unsure about her future plans after graduation but is interested in working in the athletic production field. The podcast will focus on her leadership experiences in her sorority and her time abroad in Rwanda. Hi everyone and welcome to the senior season podcast leadership edition. My name is Allie Pearl and I will be the host of this podcast and talking you through my leadership experiences throughout my senior year and everything I've learned from a leadership standpoint during my time at Virginia Tech. So once again, my name is Allie Pearl. I'm a senior here at Virginia Tech. My preferred pronouns are she and her. I call Woodbridge, Virginia home. That is in Northern Virginia. I grew up there my entire life. I have lived in two houses, but I have always lived in Woodbridge my entire life. So that is home for me in Northern Virginia. I went to Woodbridge Senior High School, so about four or five minutes away from my house. And I absolutely loved it. And I think a lot of my leadership experiences started there. And I'll dive a little bit deeper into that later in the podcast. So like I said, I'm a senior at Virginia Tech, majoring in sports media and analytics with a minor in leadership and social change. And I've absolutely loved it. I cannot believe that I'm already a senior, but I'm really excited for this last year. As for my involvement on campus, I am in Chi Omega, the sorority, and I also have a job with Hooky Vision, which works with the athletics departments. So that are the kind of two things that take up a lot of my free time, but they are what make Tech home for me. I found the people I love. I love doing those two jobs and being in the sorority and surrounding myself by amazing women. And that's kind of the organization that really has made Tech feel like home to me. So back at home in Northern Virginia, I have a lovely mom and dad and an older sister who is 25. I also have two dogs, Camden, who's a lab and Brantley, who's a little much. She's so funny, but they are back home in Northern Virginia and I miss them every single day, but it makes going home just a little bit sweeter. So after I graduate, what the heck do I want to do with my degree? I don't really know yet. Being a senior, I kind of wish I had that answer, but I don't and I think I'm okay with that. It's taken some time for me to be okay with that, but kind of just taking one step at a time. My job with athletics at Tech, I do a lot of production stuff and graphics and audio and all the behind the scenes stuff and I love it and the videography and the creative, all that stuff. I love it. So I could see myself going into that field after college, but I don't know what the future holds. I don't know if it's going to be grad school. I don't know if it's a job. I don't really know yet, but that's kind of what I want to do after graduation is continue working in the athletic production field, but in what capacity, I'm not really sure yet. So as for some leadership experiences that this podcast is really going to highlight, it's going to talk a lot about my time here at Virginia Tech and the main thing that I will be expanding on and really diving into will be my leadership experience in my sorority. So I have held two different leadership positions in my sorority and they have made me essentially the person I am today. I know it's so cheesy, but they are so rewarding and just being able to give back to a chapter that has given so much to me, I think is something I will never be able to be grateful enough for essentially. I loved every single second of it. Even through the hardships, I grew so much as a woman. So I'm really excited to dive deeper into my leadership experience within Chi Omega throughout this podcast series. So to go back on, as I previously mentioned, in high school, I found myself diving into leadership pretty quickly. So I was a captain of my soccer team my senior year. I played on varsity all four years in high school, but I was captain senior year. I really think I grew within the team being on varsity freshman year, I'm a young little baby freshman. And I just grew super comfortable within the team very quickly. And I loved all of those women, I looked up to the seniors, and I wanted to be a senior that other people could look up to. I also took a leadership class my junior and senior year in high school. So I really wanted to be involved within leadership, I wanted to learn how to be a better leader for those around me. So I took that leadership class my junior and senior year. And I really think that just allowed me to flourish within the leadership capacity, whether that was going to be in a sorority or just an everyday leader for my friends, just kind of developing my skills and just being the best version of myself. So kind of what is leadership throwing this term around saying I took a leadership class, like, there's a lot that can go into being a leader. But I really think it's someone that people can look up to someone that's very comforting and welcoming. Not only does it have to be verbal, but I think there's nonverbal cues that make a good leader. So having positive body language, positive facial expressions, connecting that back to just people want to be welcomed and feel comfortable around this person, a leader. I think just being welcoming and willing to help others is huge for a leader. I think that even if you don't necessarily know the person or whoever's around you in the situation, you should be able to help them and lead them in whatever capacity. So I would say my freshman year at Tech, I think I probably had a more generic definition of leadership. But now contrasting that I think it's much more in depth. I probably thought my freshman year is easy to be a leader. And after willing to pretty significant positions in my sorority, I found it's not that easy. So being a leader within a leader and leading yourself in the best way possible. So being the best version of yourself while leading the people around you. And like I kind of hit on before, you can have really high highs and you can have really low lows, but a leader knows how to work through all of that. So just being confident in the work they're putting out and doing for the greater good of the group. So my two positions I held in my sorority, I was a recruitment chair on our executive board, and then I was the philanthropy director. So those are two pretty significant positions in our sorority. So a lot went into them, lots of planning, lots of time interactions with people, chapter members, external members, there was a lot. And I think another topic I'm going to hit on throughout the series will be my time abroad in Rwanda. I think that was a huge growth opportunity for me and essentially made me who I am today. So I cannot wait to dive deeper into those into the rest of the series. But that's a little a little taste of what you're going to get. So I cannot wait to see you in episode two for the senior season podcast, Leadership Edition hosted by Allie Pearl.