Exploring the volunteer efforts of students who go above and beyond by serving the local and campus communities Name: Maura Sullivan '18 Organization: Autism Speaks U Role: President What is your organization's mission? Autism Speaks U is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families and friends through advocacy and support. Autism Speaks U aims to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism spectrum disorder and raise funds for advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. At Marist College our organization engages in volunteer work, fundraising, and increasing awareness in our community. What does your organization do on campus to help Marist and the surrounding community? Autism Speaks U has a very active fall and spring semester with many events and activities that help raise awareness for those with autism. Our fall semester consists of our community service yoga event, which is taught by Lacy Catto, one of our ASU board members, and raises money for Autism Speaks U. We get many people at this event such as avid yogis, other clubs and greek organizations, and members of the community, not just our ASU members. We also raise funds through our bake sale. We get to know other members of the club through our Game Night and are looking forward to our first collaboration with the Marist hockey team and Best Buddies in December. In the spring our club celebrates World Autism Month in April by lighting up the Marist Rotunda in blue and wearing blue on World Autism Day. We hang posters, educate the Marist community, and share why we light up the rotunda in blue every year. Also, for the fifth year in a row, our club will be holding our Color Run, which raises thousands of dollars for Autism Speaks U. Each year this event generates a lot of interest through our efforts of holding this 5k on campus while throwing blue powder on runners and walkers. Describe your role in the organization. As president of Autism Speaks U I work with my talented board to organize meetings, fundraisers and other events. Starting as a general club member, I knew I wanted to help make a bigger impact in this club. I ran for treasurer my sophomore year and have since been president for my junior and senior years. Other than facilitating general meetings, holding monthly board meetings helps me gain insights from the board to new events we can hold as a club. My board is very involved with other organizations on campus, so they help me tremendously with coming up with ideas to increase membership and involvement. Why did you join this organization? I joined this organization as a freshman because I truly love giving back and helping in any way that I can. Growing up with a brother who has autism showed me the kind of amazing things that those with autism can do and all of the barriers they can overcome. When given the resources and support for success my brother was able to attend mainstream schooling, graduate high school and is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He has dreams and aspirations of being a talented cartoonist and I hope that by following the mission of Autism Speaks U our organization can help all individuals with autism achieve their dreams. What are some skills you have acquired through your leadership position in the organization? As president of Autism Speaks it was first and foremost important to learn how to speak in front of a group of people for club meetings. This was a fun task to tackle, as I tried to incorporate videos, music, and stories into club meetings to make it more collaborative. I also learned the importance of delegation. In order to put on a successful Color Run that raises thousands of dollars every year, for example, I needed to learn how to ask for help from others. I also learned many professional skills such as how to access a conference call for when we had monthly check-in meetings with our Autism Speaks representative in New York City. Little did I know that the same kind of conferencing was utilized in other internships and jobs that I had. How do you think these skills will help you along your career path? In my future career I never believed that I would be able to supervise and inspire a team of individuals to achieve a common goal. Through my work with Autism Speaks U I have quickly learned that through facilitating members and working as a team I can achieve things greater than I ever imagined. In my future career I hope that I am able to make an impact on people and help them in any way that I can. I learned valuable skills and met many people through my time working with Autism Speaks U and I hope to continue utilizing these skills after graduation. Photos courtesy of Maura Sullivan. Join the Autism Speaks U Facebook group and follow asu_marist on Instagram.
1 Comment
SullySwagger
12/12/2017 03:59:48 pm
thats my sister!!!
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