Quiet Kid for President

When I was 15, a friend of mine, whose father was a Rotarian, asked me to help her start this new club at school that was about helping others. At the time, I didn’t understand much about Rotary beyond knowing they had their name on a lot of park signs, and I certainly didn’t know anything about Interact. It sounded like something I’d be interested in, so we gathered a group and started the club. It was through Interact that I learned about Rotaract and after enjoying myself so much in Interact, I knew I had to find out if Ottawa, the city of my future school, had a Rotaract club.

Now, I was a VERY shy and quiet person throughout grade school. The only reason I had showed up to the first Interact meeting was because I knew and had invited most of the people there. My first time at a Rotaract meeting was a very different story, however. Thankfully, as many of us shy kids do, I was able to rely on an extravert who came to my rescue and helped me integrate into the club. By the end of the year, I had conquered some of my shyness but definitely not all it. I remember at the end of my first year when a senior Rotaractor asked if I was interested in taking on an executive position, I was absolutely terrified of the idea. I had been active in the international and community committees all year, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable speaking on behalf of or leading my peers. However, something I had learned in my transition from high school to university is that the bigger the leap of faith and the more you throw yourself into the uncomfortable, the more you will grow. The best way to shed the anxiety I felt was to really just go for it. 

Ultimately, I decided to run for secretary. It was a role that worked well for me; since my job was to listen, I rarely had to speak in front of the club. Although I still remember blushing every time that I had to say anything at executive meetings, I know I improved a lot over the year. Following that, I took on the role of Membership Director which was definitely a 180 degree turn from the quiet role of secretary. It may have seemed like an awkward position for someone who was, well… awkward, but it also gave me the opportunity to help those like me, too shy to speak up and often forgotten on the sidelines because of it.  

After my Membership Director year, a few members reached out to me to ask if I would consider running for President. This, once again, was not in my comfort zone. Ever since I joined Rotaract, though, I’ve just wanted to be in the place that I can be the most help. Maybe I wouldn’t be the most socially confident President in the world, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t find my own way of running things. My goal as President was to make sure everyone felt welcomed and valued and to lead with empathy. I didn’t have the loudest voice but perhaps I could use that to help others raise theirs.

One of our Rotary mottos is Service Above Self: the idea of putting acts that benefit others over acts that benefits ourselves. However, our other motto is One Profits Most Who Serves Best. These past few years have proven that to me. Sometimes, one of the best ways you can help yourself is by helping others.

Honestly, being President was probably one of the most terrifying years of Rotaract yet. But it was also the most rewarding. I had an amazing exec during my year that definitely made my job easy but that didn’t mean it was without its personal challenges. If I’m completely honest, I’m still kind of terrified to talk in front of people. But every day that I push myself to do just that, it gets a lot easier. I may still stutter and blush half the time I have to talk on the spot but I’ve grown a lot over this year and I look forward to continuing to grow with Rotaract