Senior nursing major Karen Nowling has had an itch to be involved since her freshman year as president of Winburn Hall’s council in the Residence Hall Association.

“I got a taste, and I was hungry for more I guess you could say. I loved it!” said Nowling.

“My RA took me to this event that RHA was putting on—a recruitment for hall council—and I ran for president and got it by only nine votes,” she said. “[After that] I got involved in a bunch of committees and more and more things and just went from there.”

Those “things” included becoming a SOAR leader, an EIP Peer Instructor, joining a sorority and becoming vice president of the Student Nurses Association. However, according to Nowling, SOAR was truly an unparalleled experience.

“SOAR, it just is so life changing. You learn so much about yourself as a leader and as a role model, and you learn that you can make a difference,” said Nowling. “You get to show incoming freshmen what it’s like to be a Georgia Southern student.”

Nowling added that the team environment was instrumental to her experience as well.

“Work[ing] with a team of 23 people—we were like a big family,” said Nowling.

While Nowling has enjoyed her time as a leader in multiple student organizations, she admitted to sometimes feeling the strain of taking it all on.

“I think it happens to every leader,” said Nowling. “I definitely have the problem where I take too much on and I burn myself out [so] that’s what I’ve been focusing on lately.”

According to Nowling, experience has taught her how to take a step back and learn how to delegate.

“You have to delegate, but also if you’re in a team or a group it’s really hard to have a bunch of leaders at the same time. You have to be ready to step back and take on the things that are asked of you,” said Nowling. “It’s all about delegation and time management.”

“You need to be able to take on what you can handle, but you also don’t need to sit back and do nothing. You need to learn how to take risks and a take challenges and be proactive,” she said.

For Nowling, involvement isn’t simply about boosting one’s resume, it’s about elevating the college experience.

“Involvement is an amazing thing and will make your college experience so much better, and [it will] enrich your experience and enrich your life,” said Nowling.

According to Nowling, with all the opportunities on campus, there’s really no excuse not to get involved.

“There are over 200 organizations on campus, so there’s something for everyone. I challenge students to find something that they like to do and they want to be in and join that thing,” said Nowling.

“You’ll make friends and learn about other people and start to network.”

Nowling said that student should look around campus and grab flyers of events that are going on, and then go to the events meeting more people.

“It’s all about going and getting to know people,” she said.

However, being a leader is not without its challenges. According to Nowling, once she realized that people were looking up to her, she had to make sure she was being a good role model.

“When you become a role model and a leader on campus, people look up to you whether you realize it or not,” said Nowling. “I never thought that someone looked up to me [then] but now I appreciate it [more].”

“When you are a leader you’re in a fishbowl. You have to watch things like your Facebook and the things you do,” said Nowling.

Nowling also learned that sometimes taking on less makes you a better leader.

`“[It’s about] not stretching yourself so thin that you can’t be effective and productive in all the things you do,” said Nowling.

For Nowling, that effective leadership style is one with a team orientation. “I feel like I’m a team player, for the most part,” said Nowling.

“I think the team is important. In order for it to be successful everyone has to work together. Delegation plays a role in that as well.”

In addition to learning how to work in a team environment, Nowling’s hope for other students is for them to see the value of getting involved early on.

“Start getting involved [the] very first year and realize how much GSU has to offer,” said Nowling.

“The relationships you have with you peers and the administration as well will really impact your life.”

“You’re really going to miss out if you don’t get involved,” said Nowling.

“It’s about coming out of college a better person than who [you] are now and hopefully coming out a better leader along the way.”