- Natalie Jiron
PASSING THE BaTON: A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT
By Natalie Jiron
Anna Holland served as our 2022-2023 ADPI President and has filled this past year with positivity and encouragement to each and every one of our chapter's members! As her last hoorah as President, Anna wrote a letter to our chapter expressing her gratitude toward this past year and her experience as ADPI President. Her legacy will carry on for years to come. The letter says it all!
Hi y’all! I have had the honor of serving as Chapter President this past year for ADPi at South Carolina. I am from Raleigh, NC and am a senior (can’t believe this!) double majoring in Management and Marketing with a minor in Retailing.
Home. That’s what ADPi has felt like for me over the past three years - a place that makes being away from actual home a whole lot better. The people are what make ADPi feel like home. When I decided to run for President, the “people” aspect is what motivated me to do so. Making connections with others and forming friendships is something I love to do and it is extremely important to me.
Going into my term, I made a list of the goals I wanted to accomplish:
● Lead with grace, class, empathy, and strive to go above and beyond as a chapter.
● Stay detail oriented and diligent with my tasks and in checking in with officers to
ensure they are reaching their goals.
● Help to stimulate an environment for members that is exciting, worthwhile,
rewarding, and impactful on their lives.
● Be a resource and mentor for both officers and chapter members.
● Show the chapter the power of kindness and respect.
I recently watched a Brene Brown video (who is amazing by the way) where she talked about how human connection is the one thing we all strive for. I believe this is what brings true happiness and fulfillment in life, not material things or anything else. It wasn’t until the past year, while serving as President, that I learned the true magnitude of this statement and how accurate it really is. My friendships are one of the things that matters to me most in life. These girls have helped me and each other get through some of the most difficult times of our life, celebrate the good times, and just BE there through it all. Even though I’m definitely a southern girl, I don’t think my freshman year self could've ever imagined being here now, having moved from Colorado not knowing a single soul at USC. This to say, you never know where life will take you and it is so important to live every day like it’s your last - fight for what you believe in, ask that person to a function you’re nervous to, apply for that internship, say yes to as much as you can, make a new friend in ADPi or another chapter, go on that trip. And remember the legacy you want to leave behind.
My goal as President was to help everyone realize that it’s about what’s inside that matters, the way you treat people matters, and that life is too short to not enjoy every single moment. I believe our purpose in being in this chapter is to grow as people and make memories that will last a lifetime. I hope I’ve left a positive impact on your life, even if small. Thank you for giving me a year I will never forget. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life to become better friends with you all this year. I truly do not know what my life would look like without ADPi.
Thank you to my incredible team of officers - behind the scenes they all worked so hard to make our chapter better. And to Miss Gay, for being the best advisor I could ever ask for. If you don’t know Miss Gay, you need to!! I look up to her so much. I also couldn’t have made it to this point without my sweet momma - who is my absolute biggest inspiration. She is who first taught me the importance of being kind and giving back.
This moment is truly bittersweet because while I am sad to close this chapter of life, I couldn’t be happier to see Meredith take over this role. I know she will serve this chapter with grace, class, and a heart that is pure gold.
All of the lessons I have learned throughout the past three years have helped shape me as a person and have also helped me pursue goals I have for my future. After graduation, I will be moving to Charleston for College of Charleston’s Masters of Business Administration program. I could not be more excited but it is very surreal that there is only one semester left of college.
Know you can always call me a friend and I’ll never be out of reach. When I graduate in May, I will be leaving a piece of my heart here in Columbia. Love y’all SO much.
With so much gratitude,
Anna Holland