A Student Finds His Voice

Kevin L. is a student who came to Wake Tech Phi Beta Lambda extremely shy and unable to express himself out loud in a group. In the spring of 2015, Kevin placed second in a Marketing competition and was able to compete at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago. In general, he stuttered slightly and delivered a performance that would not land him on stage that weekend. Of course, he gave 100% during this competition, but the real change in him didn’t occur in front of the judges. The real change happened offstage at a workshop that held over 100 people. An advisor was speaking on best practices in running a club and finished her speech to make time for the question and answer portion of the evening. She asked if anyone had anything to say and Kevin slowly raised his hand to say, “I have a question,” and furthermore, “Can I come up there to the front and ask?” He waltzed up to the stage, took the mic from her and asked his question, thanked her, and sat down; all the while my co-advisor and I had practically dislocated our jaws from dropping them so quickly to the floor.

We don’t remember what he asked, or what caused him to speak up that day, but since that time he has been a changed person who is volunteering for more roles and he is taking on higher executive positions in Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) each year. He currently serves as the Secretary and Recruitment Chair and is the rising Vice President for our next season. The reason for his growth could be the time he has spent absorbing positive energy from other leaders or simply learning from trial and error through failure, eventually leading to a breakthrough moment of success. 

At the North Carolina PBL State Leadership Conference in Charlotte last week, Kevin ended up taking first place in the Sales Presentation contest. He worked with his mentor, Jeff Myers, faculty member in the business administration department, and with his PBL advisors for several weeks practicing before the big event. Kevin impressed us all, and after 6 years with PBL he has now qualified to complete in National Leadership Conference representing North Carolina in Anaheim CA June 24-27.

Submitted by:

Marny J. Rhodes Instructor, Business and Marketing PBL Lead Advisor Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC

 

Diane B. Albahrawy Associate Professor, Business Law and Ethics Faculty Advisor Perkins Coordinator Director, Administrative Services, NC Phi Beta Lambda Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC