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From Leadership Program candidate to Vice Chairperson

Words: Tynan Schweitzer




Finishing up the 2016 Leadership Programme I felt myself done with the IET. I had gotten what I wanted out of it and was ready to return to my ways of avoiding responsibility. Then the AGM committee position flyer was sent around and I saw that I could become a Leadership Programme mentor for 2017. I thought I could have fun, show up on the day and leave it to the coordinators to do the heavy lifting. After the first meeting of the mentors, I knew I couldn't sit on the bench; I had to make this the best Leadership Programme yet!


 


The task was daunting. Not only did we plan to grow by 50%, but also up the projects from one to four and include an extra workshop. The mentors had plenty of support from the Young Professionals committee, guiding us along the way, warding off the pitfalls they discovered. Three months of planning and writing project documents later we received approval from the committee to execute the programme. At the start, we numbered six mentors, but responsibilities whittled us down to four. Together we planned workshops, coordinated our teams, learnt and laughed.


 


I never expected to be an active member of the IET. I never wanted to be a volunteer. Running the 2017 Leadership Programme has changed all that. My amazing experiences being the mentor to my group, working with my fellow mentors, and coordinating with the Young Professionals committee has allowed me to grow beyond what I would have expected at the start of the year. I am now the Vice-Chair of the Young Professionals Committee with big plans and ideas to continue the IET growing and improve the events and opportunities provided to our members. Without the Leadership Programme, my life would be much poorer, my professional circle smaller, and I would have missed out meeting all of the wonderful people along the way.