Okay so if you’ve talked to me in the past year and asked about what I do, 8 times out of 10, I would have brought up how I was serving as Vice President of Standards for my sorority. And depending on where you were asking, I might have told you about how exciting it is to take on a lot of responsibility, or I told you that I was absolutely in over my head and drowning. As December 2nd has come and gone and we went through officer of transition, the chapter of my life as Standards is officially over, hence this little memoir I like to call “Life as Public Enemy Number One.”

For those who don’t know, VP Standards is the position that regulates the rules and, for a lack of better words, basically gets everyone in trouble. And no one hates anyone more than the person that has the power to get them in trouble and assigns the consequences. Amazing. So here, after a year, are the most important things I learned from VP Standards.

DISCLAIMER: this is not a negative post, but one about how I came out on the other side a lot more confident in myself and my abilities.

1. I really cared too much about who liked me.

I find myself to be very extroverted, and I like making new friends. I find myself THRIVING in new environments and new experiences. So, having people actually dislike me wasn’t the end of the world, but it sure was close. Why wouldn’t people like me? But when caring about how other people perceive me negatively affects my responsibilities? Yeah, no can do with that one.

2. People are terrified of confrontation.

I’ll admit, this used to be me. When it comes to confrontation, we are so scared of what other people are going to say and what they are thinking. So much so, we end up having the conversation over some form of social media or technology.

3. When we mess up, the last thing we usually do is take the blame.

I’m totally guilty of this, even today, but I’m trying to be more conscious about it. People mess up all the time. This was installed in me at a young age with the wise words of Hannah Montana singing “Nobody’s Perfect.” But how about this? People are more likely to forgive you and want to help you out when you admit that you messed up, no excuses. You can’t talk yourself out of it once it’s already done, so I’ve learned that being a big girl and saying “I messed up. I was wrong,” AND LEAVING IT AT THAT is better that trying to justify it.

4. I hate hypocrites.

This has actually always been something I’ve disliked, probably the same for most rational-minded people. The reason I list this here is because as Standards, I would lose all authority and credibility if I messed up and broke the rules I was upholding. And I try my best to be a good leader, to be an example, to be someone I want to follow. And newsflash, I won’t follow hypocrites.

5. Giving things up is hard.

I’m officially transitioned out of Standards and into my new position, but old habits die hard. Even when tasks are tedious or frustrating, I still feel the need to do them. I’m slowly letting go, but cutting cold turkey after a year feels so weird.

So in the end, I learned a lot more about myself and I grew as a person. Most of all, I learned that I just really don’t have time to give a care about what other people think about me. And that alone has made me more comfortable about doing the hard things, it’s helped me accept my faults, and I learned more about who I want to be (and who I don’t want to be). Overall learning experience 10/10. Peace out #StandardsSzn.