Write a Personal Vision Statement for Your ALD Chapter (PDF)

Write a Personal Vision Statement for Your ALD Chapter A “Vision Statement” is a single statement (no more than a sentence or two) that outlines the “big picture” goals of your organization. It answers the question, “Who do you want to become as a group?” For example, the Vision Statement for one school, Eastern Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University will be a premier university dedicated to innovative student engagement and success, advancing Kentucky, and impacting the world. Here’s another example from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Our vision is to ensure that veterans are respected for their service, always receive their earned entitlements, and are recognized for the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of this great country. The vision statement for EKU focuses on student engagement, student success, serving Kentucky, and making a difference in the world. Student leadership theory suggests that the most effective student programs align with the visions of their home institutions. When the vision of an ALD chapter aligns with the vision of its school, the one supports the other in both tangible and intangible ways. Knowing the visions of potential community partners can help you find areas of overlap and ways to coordinate your efforts. --- Work alone or with partner(s) if you are here with someone from your home institution. On your phones or laptops, quickly google your school’s vision statement and write it below. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ --- Now, invent a Vision Statement for your ALD Chapter. Highlight what you want your chapter to become and see if you can make your chapter’s “vision” align with your home institution’s mission in one or more ways. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ **Don’t confuse a “Vision” with a “Mission.” A “Vision Statement” is necessarily abstract and open to interpretation. A “Mission Statement” establishes goals, often related to the vision or some part of it. In other words, the “mission” is what and the “vision” is how.  ALD Johnny Saves the Planet It is Johnny’s first semester in Alpha Lambda Delta. His chapter voted to get involved with local environmental issues. The President made some connections with local non-profit organizations. One of the organizations was Bay Area Clean-up Society, and they bring together groups of volunteers 2-3 times a year to pick up litter on local beaches. Another organization, Green Change, solicits donations using collection jars at local restaurants. Johnny has a dream of someday becoming an officer in his ALD chapter. His older brother was a Vice President. So, he talks to the Chapter President, offering to come up with a project that can help the chapter succeed in its mission of making a difference in local environmental issues. Fast forward three months. The local ALD chapter has partnered with both the Bay Area Clean-up Society and Green Change. These partnerships were largely made possible by Johnny. He established email communication and then face-to-face meetings with each non-profit organization’s leaders. Bay Area Clean-up Society explained the amount of time, people, and resources that would be needed to conduct a series of beach clean ups. Green Change explained their financial goals and where the money would go once collected. Johnny secured those resources with the help of his ALD chapter. Johnny recruited 5-10 members from the chapter who were willing to work collaboratively. Some of these members were officers, but Johnny was in charge of the operation as the Project Leader. He assigned members to different events. He helped keep track of finances. He delegated duties to other members, including campus safety waivers and transportation. And he even worked with a member who was a math major to show projections about what percentage of area beaches were cleaned and how much money was collected for Green Change. He did a lot more, as you can imagine. --- In small groups, list any “Soft” or “Hard” skills that Johnny might have developed as an ALD project leader. Feel free to think about tasks that would have been required that are not listed directly in the prompt. Soft Skills Developed Hard Skills Developed  FIRST NAME LAST NAME (Optional Mailing Address) | Professional Email Address | Phone Number LinkedIn Customized URL/Online Portfolio OBJECTIVE (OPTIONAL) Seeking a position as [job title] at [company] where my [main qualifications] will support [intended accomplishment for the position] EDUCATION Degree (Ex.: Bachelor of Arts in English) Minor/Concentration/Certificate: Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY Month and Year of Expected Graduation - GPA: list only if 3.0 or higher Relevant Coursework/Academic Projects: List a few classes/projects relating to the position Study Abroad: Include month and year, institution, location and coursework if related Awards/Honors: List semesters (or range of semesters) and year awarded; if you have many, create a new section RELEVANT EXPERIENCE Most Recent Job Title, Name of Organization, City, State - Month Year - Month Year • Begin each bullet point with a past tense action verb (ex.: "Researched", "Managed", "Collaborated"...); absolutely NO personal pronouns! • Focus on the tasks that are relevant/important for the position you are applying for • Highlight the skills employers are mostly looking for: leadership, teamwork, written/oral communication, problem solving • Avoid generic verbs (ex.: "Worked", "Did", "Assisted"...), or repeating the same action verbs • Try to quantify your achievements when possible (ex: "Increased sales by 30% in one year") • Use verbs similar to those found in the job posting or a generic job description (find one at https:// www.onetonline.org/) Less Recent Job Title, Name of Organization, City, State - Month Year - Month Year • Follow the same guidelines for each work experience you are listing ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE (IF APPLICABLE) • Should be kept minimal and formatted like the Relevant Experience section LEADERSHIP (IF APPLICABLE; SEE ADDITIONAL POSSIBLE CATEGORIES ON THE "RESUMES" HANDOUT) Position, Name of Organization, Location - Month Year - Month Year • Include involvement such as student organizations, sororities/fraternities, sports activities • List office positions held and committee involvement • Other section headings can include military service and/or volunteer/community service SKILLS OR CERTIFICATIONS (IF APPLICABLE) List any technical skills or certifications that are relevant for the position Computer skills/databases, technical skills beyond MS Office Language skills (fluent, bilingual, conversational) Avoid listing "soft" skills (ex.: communication, leadership, teamwork): they should be shown through your experiences and education  Identify Transferrable Skills Gained from ALD Think about your experiences in leadership positions, working on projects, and collaborating with others? Circle any action words that could be used in describing those experiences. Leadership • Assist • Critique • Cultivate • Delegate • Develop • Direct • Educate • Inspire • Lead • Manage • Mentor • Monitor • Review Customer Service • Advance • Advise • Advocate • Boost • Build • Convince • Correspond • Deliver • Earn • Field • Generate • Increase • Initiate • Merge • Negotiate • Perform • Persuade • Resolve • Sustain Communication / Creative • Address • Author • Build • Collaborate • Conceptualize • Construct • Demonstrate • Develop • Establish • Interact • Listen • Modify • Prepare • Share • Transform • Translate • Upgrade • Visualize • Write Technical role • Advance • Architect • Automate • Code • Deploy • Develop • Devise • Discover • Program • Test • Transform • Troubleshoot • Upgrade Management • Coordinate • Delegate • Formulate • Implement • Initiate • Introduce • Launch • Organize • Plan • Prioritize • Reorganize • Report • Solve • Test • Track Achievements • Attain • Complete • Earn • Exceed • Grow • Reach • Succeed • Surpass ____________________________________________________________ Discuss in Small Groups: Looking at the sample resume, think about the following sections: Awards/Honors, Leadership, and Skills/Certifications. What can you add to your resume based upon your ALD experience? If you are new to ALD or have yet to take on any projects or leadership roles, think about your “Vision Statement” and consider tasks that you hope to accomplish in the future. What awards or honors would you like to win for yourself or your chapter? What leadership experience have you gained or do you hope to gain? What soft and hard skills have you gained or do you hope to gain? Finally, pretend you are in an interview. The interviewer looks at your resume and ask, “Alpha Lambda Delta. What’s that?” How do you answer while highlighting your skills and accomplishments?