IT'S OVERRR

My Summit experience this year has been anything but expected.

From my previous knowledge of Summit groups, most of them seemed to work predominantly in the community, with limited interaction with the student body of Drury’s campus. As the Panthers for Planned Parenthood, we did just the opposite. All of our events were interactive with the student population, from last semester’s Kinky Crafting session to this semester’s Vagina Monologues and Take Back the Night at MSU.

As an individual, what I have learned the most is the challenge of cooperation, especially considering that we all live together, constantly in each other’s hair. With this, I think I’ve developed a certain tolerance that I didn’t necessarily have before; usually I just let myself fly off the handle at the first sign of distress. And while I may have given way to this a few times, I have definitely kept this in check far more than I expected. Needless to say, this allowed me to listen and cooperate more effectively with the Panthers. As far as my future at Drury goes, and in my future beyond college, I’d wager these cooperative skills will be beneficial to my career in architecture, as most projects are tackled in teams. If I hadn’t the chance to participate in Summit, I’d say my cooperative skills in the team activities would be lacking compared to those of other architects.

By far our Summit group affected the Drury community. Before Panthers for Planned Parenthood, there was no activism of the sort on campus. Even other area campuses, such as MSU, had VOX. Speaking of, the budding Voices of Planned Parenthood coming next semester is the true indication of our impact in the community.

After a year in Summit, I’ve come to realize the importance of effective communication within the house. What nearly tore us apart was our inability to talk it out, and work around each other’s schedules to find the time to plan events, etc. As for the incoming Summit groups, prepare your communication skills. Set aside an adequate amount of time to dedicate to your fellow Summit members.

And that’s all folks!

LJ