"On The Move" with Thomas Scott
5/3/2013 3:14:00 PM | Recreation
You have been an active participant in our Club Sport Program throughout your undergraduate years at Lehigh. Can you share what you have been involved in?
I have been quite active: I have been in the Fencing Club for 4yrs, and President for 3 of those. I am also in the Running club, in which I helped Mark Edwards and then Neal Cousino keep the club afloat when it was going through hard times. Both are now bigger and better than ever which is exciting to me and great for the Lehigh community.
What other Campus activities or organizations are you currently or have been involved with?
Orientation Leader (2011, 2012 and now 2013 staffs) World Affairs Club Spectrum Summer Reading Selection Committee.
Do you find it difficult being so involved?
Yes, but life is too short not to take advantage of it.
Is it hard to keep up with your classes and grades, or do you feel that you balance them well?
I feel like I balance them well for the most part. Any trouble I have in my classes is from being too ambitious in my academics not really from my campus involvement. Nobody gets a Lehigh degree with no effort.
How has participating in our Campus Athletics programs helped to enrich your college experience?
It has provided me the ability to explore my interests outside of my academic field, let me be physically active, and provided critical leadership skills that I would not have picked up otherwise. There is no way to describe how much of an impact it has made.
How has our programs helped you to make connections and friendships with people that you otherwise probably would have never met?
Not only does participation in a club sport give you a close group of friends striving for similar goals, but it also introduces you to other campus leaders. For instance I credit my acceptance into the orientation leader program partly to the connections I made in campus athletics who could put in a good word for me with the OFYE. All of my successes have been because I had motivated people, from all parts of the Lehigh community, helping me.
What inspired you to become so involved?
I am passionate for everything I get involved in so it comes naturally.
Do you think you've grown as a leader? Do you feel more confident in general?
Certainly, three years of successes and failures as a club leader have shown me my strengths and let me work on correcting my weaknesses. Knowing that I am making a difference and improving others' college experiences provides me with a lot of the confidence I need to move forward.
How do you think you will be able to apply these leadership skills in other areas such as the workplace and in everyday life?
I certainly do and I think that I already have. I know how to work with a small group, and have a better understanding of all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make such a group actually function. That is life right there. Even when things appear to be bleak, keep on pushing and something good will come out of it.
What are your future plans?
After I use my fifth year at Lehigh under the Presidential Scholars Program (Environmental Policy Program), I will be seeking a Masters in International Relations and hopefully working for the Department of State, but life has many twists and turns so who knows?
