· Leadership role in an academic organization: 3 points

This year I was heavily involved with the organization and development of the Health Careers Club as I served as Parliamentarian for this school year.  For two years previously, I served as publicity chair for this club as well, so I was involved in many of the social media, campus publicity and interaction within the club and throughout the AUC. As Parliamentarian and Publicity Chair for Health Careers Club, one of the main strengths of my role was helping create structure and professionalism within meetings while also increasing awareness and attendance through outreach efforts. We were able to better connect students to healthcare opportunities, but a key weakness was inconsistency in engagement and communication, as outreach could have been more strategic and earlier to improve turnout. I also think events could have been more interactive rather than primarily informational. This experience connects closely to my other leadership roles, like co-founding the Spelman Jaguarettes and mentoring high school students at Douglass High, where I’ve consistently taken on responsibilities centered around organization, communication, and creating community. Across these experiences, I’ve noticed a pattern of being drawn to roles that allow me to bridge leadership and outreach, which also aligns with what I’ve learned in psychology about engagement and human behavior. Overall, this role influenced my goals by showing me that leadership and communication are just as important as clinical knowledge in healthcare, and it pushed me to continue developing these skills as I move toward a career in medicine where I can educate, advocate, and create more accessible and impactful spaces for others.

 - Ashe Kelsey