This week’s LeaderBear has quite a few Missouri State experiences under her belt. Emily Cassimatis, an Interior Design major set to graduate in 2016, has completed our Commerce Bank Emerging Leaders and Distinction in Public Affairs programs. When we asked her to tell us a little about what those experiences meant to her, she said:

“The most impactful thing I have experienced throughout the leadership programs I have been a part of has to be the relationships I have made with students across campus! It was so refreshing to get the chance to work with people that had different ideas and views than what I had.”

Emily is a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority on our campus and has served as their Historian. In this role she helped lead her chapter to another great year full of success and sisterhood. In addition to her work with ADPi, she serves as a University Ambassador. In this role, Emily may be spotted giving tours to potential new students and their families or you may catch her on a student panel in the Plaster Student Union. A dedication to service is certainly important to Cassimatis which is evident through her work with Fall and Spring Break emersion trips for she and her peers.

This past summer, Emily was chosen as one of 5 students – along with Courtney Pfluke, Blake Shepheard, Caleb Hearon, and Kelsea Fink – too attend the LeaderShape Institute. This is a weeklong leadership institute where students from across the country come together and grow together as leaders and change agents. Emily is now working with the other students who attended this conference to plan a LeaderShape Institute for Missouri State students this summer. Keep your eyes peeled for that awesome opportunity!

Outside of leadership positions and planning wonderful service trips, Emily has achieved some personal goals as well. She ran a marathon last fall and the gentlemen of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity liked her so much, they made Emily their Dream Girl. Naturally, we had to ask Cassimatis to leave us with a little advice for younger students, and she didn’t disappoint.

“My advice is: Go beyond your comfort zone! Try everything that sounds interesting to you regardless of how different it may be from what you have done in the past. Even if you don’t like it in the end, you won’t have the regret of not trying it at all.”