Leslie Pilgrim
UMDNJ & Rutgers Camden
This past June, a friend of mine graduated from medical school. In her graduation speech, she talked about the road less travelled. Her speech got me thinking of the past year and running for the Student Assembly Board of Directors (SABoD). The road was filled with twists and turns, but the end result was more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. The students that I’ve met this past year have challenged my academic perspective and have pushed me to become not only a better physical therapist but a better person. They've inspired me to again take the road less travelled and run for vice president of the SABoD.
My leadership journey didn’t begin with the secretary position. While studying for my master's degree program, I held positions such as the president of the Public Health Students Association and the vice president of Internal Affairs of the Student Government Association. I've also served as the student representative and core ambassador within the Student Assembly. These positions have helped me to hone in on my individual skills as a leader and improve my ability to work as a part of a team to achieve success.
As vice president, I will fulfill my duties with the same fervor that I have as secretary. I will strive to maintain the excellent standards of communication that the past Boards have upheld. I will work with the Board to further increase the number of students that we represent and, thus, the number of students that we are able to reach through The Loop. Student social media presence has increased exponentially, and I will collaborate with the new director to explore how we could capitalize these avenues to increase membership.
During the past few years, we have seen an increased student involvement within the sections and state chapters. This peak has coincided with the Board of Directors also being able to strengthen their connections with these APTA components. I will continue to work to improve student connection with the professionals within the components and encourage the sections and chapters to develop programs that are geared towards engaging students.
APTA membership wanes drastically during the new professional (0-5 years of practice) years, and it is essential to get members involved as students to keep their membership postgraduation. As vice president, I will continue to work with the New Professional Project Committee to brainstorm ideas for increasing their participation not only within the components but also with present students. We can use the resource of our presently active new professionals to help engage students and prepare them for life post PT school.
We all have roads to travel, and every person has a different destination. As your vice president, I will give my best effort to support students as they fulfill their journey within APTA, whether that means connecting with a component, brainstorming ways to advocate, or using the resources available to me to get students involved.
Thank you for your consideration.