Society of Physics Students (SPS)
SPS at Golden Gate National Park, 2012
I began my college career as a Physics major, and immediately felt a need to advocate this often underrepresented flavor of science. Because I'd grown up with parents who were entrepreneurs, I decided to run for Treasurer of SPS and was voted into office within the first few months of my freshman year. I have continued to serve in this position for the duration of my college career, even after I changed majors to Chemistry in the middle of my sophomore year.
This organization has two main purposes: to serve the community while promoting science to younger generations, and to train current Physics students in the communication skills necessary to succeed in their field. As Treasurer, I manage the finances of the club to balance how much we are able to spend on demonstration materials (corn starch, materials for liquid nitrogen ice cream, plates, etc.), travel expenses, and promotional supplies (like a SPS banners, or a life-size cardboard cutout of Nikolai Tesla to have with our Tesla coil in demonstrations). There are two main projects the Treasurer is also responsible for: coordinating the fundraising efforts and planning the details of the annual Spring Break trip for active members of the club to experience Physics-related venues around the country to which they would not have otherwise had access. Being Treasurer has turned out to be an exercise in planning all the practical logistics for a group of college students. I make hotel reservations, organize transportation (one year in Chicago, we even found it was cheaper to ride in limosines the entire trip!), and even organize social events, like meeting up with Stanford's SPS chapter while we were in San Francisco. Overall, this organization has been an amazing experience for me to build my leadership skills.
This organization has two main purposes: to serve the community while promoting science to younger generations, and to train current Physics students in the communication skills necessary to succeed in their field. As Treasurer, I manage the finances of the club to balance how much we are able to spend on demonstration materials (corn starch, materials for liquid nitrogen ice cream, plates, etc.), travel expenses, and promotional supplies (like a SPS banners, or a life-size cardboard cutout of Nikolai Tesla to have with our Tesla coil in demonstrations). There are two main projects the Treasurer is also responsible for: coordinating the fundraising efforts and planning the details of the annual Spring Break trip for active members of the club to experience Physics-related venues around the country to which they would not have otherwise had access. Being Treasurer has turned out to be an exercise in planning all the practical logistics for a group of college students. I make hotel reservations, organize transportation (one year in Chicago, we even found it was cheaper to ride in limosines the entire trip!), and even organize social events, like meeting up with Stanford's SPS chapter while we were in San Francisco. Overall, this organization has been an amazing experience for me to build my leadership skills.