Missouri State University’s public affairs mission encourages students to practice three pillars: cultural competence, community engagement and public affairs. Addison Reed’s application of the public affairs mission has distinguished her as a student. She’s made sure her time here has mattered.

As a marketing major, Addison developed an impressive resumé – one that includes serving as vice president of the Student Government Association and proposing an end to violent extremism in front of embassy ambassadors in Washington, D.C.

“Coming in as a freshman, I didn’t just want to be a number,” Addison said. “I was scared to just jump into things, but my personal motto is to live with no regrets. Who cares if you’re nervous, just go out and do it.”

With her time as an undergraduate ending, we caught up with Addison to learn how Missouri State’s three pillars contributed to her promising future.

Community engagement

“When I rushed, I asked recruiters ‘What can you do for me that I can’t do for you,’” Addison said.

As an apprehensive freshman, she joined the sorority Sigma Kappa because the members convinced her of its empowering presence in the community. Addison has cultivated life-long relationships with her sisters at Sigma Kappa and also considers the organization the catalyst to her involvement with student government and community engagement.

Ethical leadership

Through building relationships and getting involved at Missouri State, Addison earned a position within the Student Government Association as the chief communications officer. Despite some initial resistance to politics, her passion for the University and leadership qualities led Jordan McGee to select her as his running mate in his campaign for SGA president.

“It goes back to my motto of ‘no regrets,’” Addison said. “I didn’t decide on running until the last minute, but when I did decide I wanted to be vice president, I went all in.”

As vice president, Addison learned how to be an ethical leader through adversity and gained enlightenment by engaging with important national issues.

Cultural competence

As a member of the Missouri State Ad Team, Addison participated in the creation of the ONE95 Campaign in the spring of 2015. The campaign addressed violent extremism in the world through education and positive social media messages.

To better understand global issues, Addison and her peers at ONE95 emphasized seeing things from others’ perspectives.

The ONE95 campaign competed in the U.S. State Department’s Peer to Peer: Challenging Extremism program and placed first out of 21 international universities.

Life after Missouri State

Graduating this December, Reed looks forward to applying her can-do attitude to a new position. She will be traveling the country promoting empowerment to various chapters of Sigma Kappa.

“At first, I was crying, because it was all ending,” Reed said. “I know I’ll miss college, but I’m excited for what’s to come.”

Missouri State’s public affairs mission has built a firm foundation for Addison’s future. While it is impossible to predict the turns her life will take, there is one thing that is evident: she will have lived with no regrets.

Story credits

This story was created for JRN 478 (Multimedia Reporting). All content was created by Missouri State students from the departments of communication and media, journalism and film. This story was originally published on The Springfield Report, a multimedia journalism project by Missouri State students.

All reporting by:

• Taylor Cernetich
• Emily McTavish
• Cameron Mecke
• Editor-in-chief: Beaunea McNeil