Andrea Mullin
Graduation with Leadership Distinction in Professional and Civic Engagement
University of South Carolina
Graduation with Leadership Distinction in Professional and Civic Engagement
University of South Carolina
My name is Andrea Mullin and I am a senior at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Public Health with a minor in Medical Humanities. I will be graduating in May of 2019 with a Bachelor of Science and with Leadership Distinction in Professional and Civic Engagement.
Following graduation, I will be taking a gap year to gain more experience in the medical field before pursing medical school. I intend to take this time to continue to grow as a leader and become a stronger applicant for medical school. I plan to be a medical scribe during this time off from school in order to gain more clinical hours and continue my education in the medical field. While I have been at the University of South Carolina, I have spent time both within- and beyond-the-classroom learning how to be a strong leader, a positive influence in the community and a team member. Not only will I utilize these qualities when I am attending medical school, but I will also utilize them when I become a physician.
Over my four years at USC, I have had the privilege of holding several leadership positions on campus. I knew coming to USC from out of state, I wanted to get involved on campus and I quickly began taking advantage of the opportunities this large campus had to offer. In my freshman year, I decided to apply for a leadership position within my sorority. It was such an honor to have been chosen as the New Member Team Retreat Coordinator where I was placed in charge of planning an overnight retreat for 115 new members in less than semester. Although a challenge at times, I learned so much about what it meant to be a leader and to work as a team. I enjoyed this role so much, I decided to serve on my sorority cabinet the following year. I was elected as Sisterhood Chair and was then in charge of planning events for 300 or more sorority members. I continued to get involved on campus and reached out for opportunities that were beyond Greek life. During my junior year, I served as a University 101 Peer Leader where I co-facilitated a semester long freshman transition class. Additionally, I was selected to serve as a Recruitment Counselor for both my junior and senior year. As my abilities to be an effective leader grew stronger, so did my passion to want to help others in the Carolina community. I decided to then apply and was given the opportunity to become a Peer Consultant in the Student Success Center (SSC) during the Spring 2018 semester. I have served as a peer Consultant for the last year, working with students on methods to improve their academic success. After my first semester, I was asked to be a Peer Mentor/Assistant for the Peer Consultant staff. Through this role, I have taken on a much larger responsibility at the SSC which includes administration work. Each of these positions contributed to the confidence I had to run for Vice President of Operations for Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-health honor society my senior year. Through the GLD process, I have finally been given the time to truly see all that I have done at USC and reflect on my experiences. I have been able to assess my growth and truly appreciate the positions that have helped shape me into the leader I am today; someone who is confident in speaking in front of groups, capable of facilitating large group activities, and confident in being in a mentor for others.
My portfolio includes three Key Insights that discuss and elaborate on what I learned and how they impacted me personally during my time at the University of South Carolina. In these key insights, I explain both within- and beyond-the-classroom connections that have made a lasting impact on me and my future career goals. My key insights include:
Following my three key insights, you will find my Leadership section articulates how I intend to use my learning in the future, following graduation. I explain how I will be using what I have learned from my within- and beyond-the-classroom experiences to create a positive change on the USC-Columbia campus.