Project Arch, a club dedicated to civic and community engagement, hosted an event called “Empowering Your Voice” on Friday with the intent of inspiring students to get involved, take up leadership roles and speak out on issues of importance.
The co-founder of Project Arch, student Liz Mendicino, hosted the event in the York Room and shared her own experiences as a way to inspire others to get involved.
Mendicino participates in numerous clubs and activities at Ramapo, saying that her involvement has allowed her multiple opportunities to make her voice heard.
“Just throw things out there and you’ll find your people,” she said.
Mendicino was very open about her experiences, sharing stories from throughout her life. She said she was considered a shy kid in high school who inspired little confidence in her teachers that she would be successful. At Ramapo, however, she said she found her voice, leading her to join the Student Government Association and co-found Project Arch.
Empowering your own voice, she said, comes from “knowing who you are outside of what other people tell you you are.”
Mendicino emphasized three aspects of leadership during her talk:
- Allow [yourself] to feel comfortable in [yourself]. Mendicino said you need to have a group of people who support you. She added that she regretted not having that type of support system in the past, but was grateful to find it at Ramapo College.
- Strive to understand the perspective of other people. “Knowing what you don’t know, and knowing what you can learn from others” is one of the most important lessons Mendicino said she has learned since coming to Ramapo. “We are each bringing our own perspectives, our own histories.”
- Use your voice for good. “You need to find the value in yourself … speaking up helps you do it.” Being an advocate for yourself is the only way you can find opportunities in the world, she said.
At the end of her speech, Mendicino opened the floor to questions, fielding many about her experiences on campus and how she manages to stay on top of the many organizations and clubs of which she is a member.
At one point, she was asked how she deals with rejection. Mendicino responded by saying that it was important to look at rejection as an opportunity to grow rather than looking at it as a sign of failure.
“We cannot define ourselves by what we are not … we must define ourselves by our capacity to be, our capacity to know,” she said.
Mendicino said she does not define herself by what others think of her.
“I am my own wildest dreams,” she said. “I am a leader … I believe in myself.”
rcassio@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @projectarchrcnj, Instagram
