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I'm the new president of the Rotaract Club at Purdue. We're a pretty small club (10 members) and I got the job mostly because no one else would do it. I'm beginning to see why. It takes up so much time, and effort! It's the first week of school, and I'm spending 2 to 3 times as much time on Rotaract as I am on my schoolwork.
I just missed my first major homework assignment in what's probably going to be my toughest class because I was busy with Rotaract stuff. Luckily, we're allowed one late homework a semester, so this won't hurt my grade. But if things keep up at this pace, I'm likely to miss many more. And completely independent of the schoolwork problems, the amount of stress I'm feeling as a result of this is going to absolutely destroy my health in very short order. Which will make schoolwork, work, and Rotaract that much harder.
I have a few questions for people who have done this before.
How do you handle the stress and work of being a club president? How do you balance it with your schoolwork? Do you have any tricks I could use?
Do things calm down after the first few weeks of school? Or are things going to be this crazy all semester?
posted
I haven't been club president in college, but I would suggest you make your education the priority and the club take back seat. Not having the awesomest club ever won't ruin your college experience, failing your courses will.
Part of being the leader is delegation. Make some of the other members take some of the work load. You're not the club servant.
Also, why does such a small club demand so much attention? Are you overextending? Maybe cut back a little. Decide if you REALLY need to do all that you're doing, or if the club could run just fine with 1/4 the effort.
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I have another question? Is this the kind of thing I should talk to the club advisor about? I don't really know what their role is supposed to be or anything.
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I know someone who works with children/teenagers a lot - actually, she's all about empowering youth. I'd suggest contacting her. Her blog is at http://kellycurtis.blogspot.com/ and she's seriously friendly, helpful, and kind. Mention that I recommended you contact her, if you like. She also has articles on her website that you might find useful - it's linked from her blog.
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First of all, yes...definitely talk to your advisor about this. That is what he/she is there for. However, approach the subject in a way that puts more of an emphasis on, "What suggestions do you have for keeping things in perspective as I do this job", rather than "Oh, my God, I'm so stressed. What do I do?" You want your advisor to know that you have concerns, but you also want him/her to have confidence in you.
I was president of my local chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (the international honor society for two-year colleges) for a year a few years ago. It was a stressful year, but I came through it in one piece, more or less , and even with some scholarships for my upper division school as a bonus.
You need a few hard and fast rules. I let my board and my chapter know right up front that I wasn't going to clean up their messes if they said they would do something for the chapter and then didn't follow through. I explained that I was not their parent and I was not their spouse, and that I would not ask them to do anything that they did not feel that they could do. But, if they said they were going to do something, they needed to do it or make sure it got done. Otherwise, there would be consequences...it wouldn't get done magically, and excuses wouldn't be made for them. They didn't believe me until such a situation came up. After someone found out the hard way that I meant what I said, I had much less of a problem with people following through on what they said they would do. You might not have too much of a problem in this area, with such a small membership. I had a membership of something over 100 to deal with.
Also...make sure your boundaries are very clear, re: schoolwork and private life versus club activities. Schoolwork has to come first. Period. That includes making sure that your members know when you are and are not available for consultation on club matters. For example, I let my chapter know that I was not available for calls after 8 p.m. That gave me time to do school work without having to worry about getting calls at home, and it gave me permission to ask people to call back the next day if they called too late at night. I also had the advantage that I worked on campus, in an environment where I generally had time to talk to someone if they walked in to the office during the school day. That way, they knew where to find me and could communicate with me easily, but discussions could never get dragged out because I did have to work, after all.
Another tip: don't be afraid to delegate. Figure out who is dependable (see above, concerning not cleaning up people's messes) and ask them to help you out with things, especially when you start to feel bogged down. One of the best things I learned as a student organization president was to delegate. It isn't something that comes naturally to me.
As far as stress goes, have someone you can vent to. My year as president was extremely stressful, because I had to deal with a bunch of high achievers as well as with two or three club members who tended to be trouble-makers. But I had a main advisor, another advisor, and the previous year's president to vent to when things got too ridiculous. They were all more than generous with their time and advice, which was invariably helpful.
Things will likely calm down to an extent after the beginning of the semester. I don't know how things are on your campus, but where I was there was a lot of paperwork, both for the school administration and the international organization to take care of as the semester began. The campus paperwork went away fairly quickly, but there was some organization paperwork throughout the year although it tapered off some until just before international convention. We also had activities throughout the year, and a weekly board meeting. Still, by setting and maintaining boundaries, I was able to come through the semester with my GPA, and my sanity (well, most of it) intact.
I hope this helps. Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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littlemissattitude- Thank you so much. This does help a lot.
I think I'm going to organize the club around our various projects. So that for every project there will be a committee with one person in charge, and a few other who they can delegate to.
I also think I'm going to drop a class. I was trying to do 18 credit hours, working, and being club president. I don't think that I'm capable of that. I think that one less class will seriously lighten the load.
Again, thanks a lot! This has really made me think of things I can do to deal with the stress.
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She also has articles on her website that you might find useful - it's linked from her blog. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
, and even with some scholarships for my upper division school as a bonus.
