Senior Human Development and Family Studies major Taryn Phillips-Smith is the recipient of Kent State University Leadership Center’s March Student Leader of the Month.
The Student Leader of the Month program seeks to recognize students for excellence in leadership through campus and community involvement. This month Phillips-Smith is being awarded for her leadership within the community and for her participation in multiple programs at Kent State.
“It was very great to receive this award,” Phillips-Smith said. “ I wasn’t expecting to receive it, but I am definitely very appreciative of it.”
“Being a Kupita Mentor is a very rewarding experience because of my own personal experiences, and I get to act as that go-to person and provide that safe space for incoming freshmen,” Phillips-Smith said.
K/T is a free program at Kent State that aids students in successfully navigating their college careers by focusing on cultural and social climates on campus. Phillips-Smith is grateful to be able to help guide students in the right direction.
“I came in my freshman year as an exploratory student so being able to give advice, support and that comforting feeling I was provided as a freshman to incoming freshmen is one of my favorite feelings,” she said.
Nicole Kotlan, senior director of the Exploratory Advising Center in University College at Kent State, nominated Phillips-Smith because of her outstanding involvement and impact on the community.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Taryn over the past four years,” Kotlan wrote in her nomination. “I believe Taryn exemplifies the description of the award as a student leader of the month and more.”
More than anything, Kotlan said she nominated Phillips-Smith because she successfully maintained several leadership positions and a solid academic record all while taking on a part-time job, internship and pursuing her degree.
“I believe a key to her leadership success is she cares beyond her four walls, she cares about students, Kent State and the community beyond,” Kotlan wrote
Phillips-Smith continues to make a difference in her peers' lives by following along every step of the way.
“Continue to be you and go after everything you want,” Phillips-Smith said. “Everything else will align.”
For being selected as Student Leader of the Month, Phillips-Smith will receive a commemorative certificate, a Kent State T-shirt and a $15 gift card to the Kent State bookstore along with features on the Leadership Center website, monthly newsletter and the @KentStateLeads Instagram page.
To nominate a Student Leader of the month, visit www.kent.edu/csi/student-leader-month.
For more information on the Leadership Center, visit www.kent.edu/csi/leadership.