Published On: November 4th, 2022

In this edition of the Student Endowment Fund Spotlight, we would like to highlight words of wisdom from some of the ITE student chapter past-presidents and what they learned from their time with ITE.

1. Please list your top 2 lessons learnt through your time with ITE

“I learned that networking in person again is a little more difficult after the pandemic. At least if you’re an introvert like me, it can be hard to remember how to socialize in person. But it is always rewarding! I also learned that this “new normal” is a great time to try something new, even when COVID-19 mandates are constantly changing. This past semester, USC ITE had the opportunity to teach transportation workshops to local high school students, and even though there were some uncertainties, it was an incredibly rewarding experience.”

– Arlo Fischer, USC

“The most important lessons I have learned from being in ITE are the importance of communication and parking. As ITE’s president, I learned firsthand how miscommunication, or lack thereof, can completely cause so much unnecessary confusion and stress, for both me and my members. I will take those experiences and lessons to my future workplace; especially as online communication becomes more and more norm. The importance of parking came about as a young, naive, and ambitious transportation engineer. While I would love to overhaul America’s transportation network overnight, transforming it to a walkable, bikeable, and transit heavy utopia, that is not how industry works. While I did not see the value of proper parking planning, talking with many professionals about their work enlightened me on the impacts of good parking management. It showed me how much more there is to learn about in the transportation industry.”

– Garett Davis, UC Berkeley

2. What is one of your favorite ITE memories?

“There are too many great memories to pick just one, but one of my favorite memories is attending the 2020 Student Leadership Summit in-person before the pandemic. I made wonderful connections with several students and professionals that I still am in contact with today. As President this year, my favorite memory has been bonding with my officer board on a trip to Montaña de Oro State Park. This gave me an opportunity to become closer with my officer board, and the dunes and sandy beaches were stunning!”

– Jacob Hamada, Cal Poly SLO

“My favorite ITE memory would have to be every single social we had as a chapter. From presentation parties to arts and crafts in the grass, it was so much fun hanging out with everyone, and when we’re all together, we’re a great group of energy.”

– Sophia Tan, UCLA

3. Do you have any advice for Future Leadership?

“My advice for future leadership involves a few points: communication, delegation, and direction.

I touched upon communication in my previous answer, but I cannot stress enough how important it is. If you don’t communicate with other ITE leaders, there is no point in being an ITE chapter. If you don’t communicate what the club’s goal is, people will not be motivated. If people do not know what is going on, nothing will ever work out well.

Next is delegation. As a leader, you have a lot of responsibilities, but they don’t have to all be done by you personally. If you don’t know how to properly delegate responsibilities to reliable people (and help support when they need it) you will be overwhelmed very quickly. As someone who tried to take on all the responsibilities of ITE president all at once, I learned how quickly tasks can stack and become unmanageable.

Finally, direction. If the president of a club doesn’t have a direction, he or she wants to take the club, they’re a manager, not a leader. It can be as simple as ‘I want there to be more socials this year’ or ‘we should have more sponsors this year.’ For me, I want to help bring my chapter be more involved with the broader ITE community after being on Zoom for so long.”

– Garett Davis, UC Berkeley

“My advice for Future Leadership is to always communicate with others and stay positive in life! Communication is key, especially when coordinating so many different ITE events with your officer board, students, faculty, and professionals. Additionally, I always try to stay happy and enjoy life and all the ITE events I’ve helped host over the years. It’s much better when you’re having fun and making strong connections with others! I am very grateful for the memories and opportunities I’ve had while being part of Cal Poly SLO’s ITE chapter!”

– Jacob Hamada, Cal Poly SLO

Here’s a little snippet of what some of these rock stars had to say. We will continue to celebrate their wisdom in the next series!

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