Alpha Theta Phi Chapter - Phi Theta Kappa - LaGuardia Community College

By Akampreet Kaur Phi Theta Kappa builds necessary characteristics in community college students who have high expectations and are open to challenges. The four PTK hallmarks include Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Fellowship. These hallmarks encourage students to continue their academic achievement and personal development. All of these hallmarks made a big impact on me individually due to the many opportunities I got to experience as an active volunteer. Participation matters a lot in PTK because it can help build up your leadership and fellowship qualities. As an active member, I learned what a leader does and the importance of being one. One of the events I volunteered for was the food drive where I helped collect cans that was donated to Single Stop for the winter holidays. As the current secretary, I was in charge of the Fellowship and Leadership General meetings. It was a good opportunity to be in charge of an event and coming up with an idea of how we could give back ...

By Soleil Griffin Since this is going to be my 4 th conference with the Alpha Theta Phi chapter, I’m a bit excited of how thing are going to turn out. During my previous experience we were introduced to about five keynote speakers. Out of the five, both Justin Fosu-Jones and Dr. Elizabeth Johnston stood out to me the most. When I heard that the PTK Catalyst conference will also have keynote speakers, I knew it would be a great opportunity to learn more information. From the five keynote speaker listed for the Nashville conference, I’m really excited to hear from Phi Theta Kappa’s President and CEO Dr. Tincher-Ladner. According to the PTK website, Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner joined the Phi Theta Kappa staff in 2012 as the Chief Information and Research Officer. She later served as Interim Executive Director until receiving the permanent appointment in 2016 by the Phi Theta Kappa Board of Directors. As a person who spent over 23-years in high education, I’m intrigued by how she focu...

by Dipa Rai Phi Theta Kappa’s main mission is to recognize academic achievement of college students as well as to provide opportunities to grow as scholars and leaders. PTK provides opportunities for students to grow professionally day by day. As per my personal experience, it has changed my personality in many ways. I got an opportunity to build my skills such as public speaking, soft skills and challenge my own abilities. For example, I used to be a shy person before but after being involved in PTK as a Chapter Media Officer and working in a team has changed my personality. I have to express myself, share my ideas whenever we work in team and I have to be able to share and talk about PTK to new students. This has helped myself to be more open in front of people and interact with them. Ptk allowed me time to work and develop these skills with guidance from my peers and advisors. C ommunicat ion with the team, advisors, members, developing a habit of listening to others i...

by Karen Carino Born in London, England in 1968, Platon has established himself as a world renowned photographer. If you are someone like me, who is passionate about photography or who is familiar with his work, seeing his name on the list of guests attending PTK Catalyst 2017 is exciting! He has shot portraits for various publications that include Rolling Stone, the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, and the Sunday Times Magazine. Due to his unparalleled talent, Platon has also produced over twenty covers for Times Magazine, including the 2007 issue of Person of the Year that featured R ussian Premier Vladimir Putin. The year after, Platon signed a multi-year contract with the New Yorker as a staff photographer, and h is portfolio there has focused on themes which include the U.S Military, portraits of world leaders and the Civil Rights Movement. He even teamed up with Human Rights Watch in 2009 to help them celebrate those who fight for equality and justice. Pl...

By Chethana Prabodhanie Volunteering is something that we all should do whenever we have time. However, we have to keep in mind that it should be done not just to add some volunteering hours to our resume, but to serve to the communities we are a part of and gain great satisfaction by doing so. I have been an active volunteer of the Alpha Theta Phi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International honor society. Some of the occasions I volunteered for the chapter include the Induction Ceremony of the chapter, the Honors in Action Project and the College project. And because I volunteered in these several occasions, I received the opportunity to become a panel member in the Volunteers Appreciation Day that was organized by the Alpha Theta Phi chapter in order to recognize the dedication and the efforts of their fellow members. This day was one of the most memorable experiences I had with the honor society. The panel that I was a part of consisted of Phi Theta Kappa me...

By  Gallage Dona C. Prabodhanie There are many people who inspire me to do more and become more. From friends to family and different professionals, they all teach me how hard work and dedication helps to achieve everything one wants to achieve in life. Yet I felt the necessity to find a role model who has shared interests and career goals as I do. And this is when I found Dr. Jennifer Arnold, while reading about the keynote speakers who will be speaking at the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention 2017. Being a student who’s passionate about helping others, especially children, my ambition is simple enough, it is to become a Pediatrician. And as Dr. Arnold has dedicated herself to help children by becoming a neonatologist, I started considering Dr. Arnold as my role model as she is a person who I can look up to and someone who can inspire me to achieve my goals. But the fact that she is a doctor who is dedicated to child and infant care is not th...

By Tsewang Rinzin Now that I am about to graduate from LaGuardia community college, and as I reflect back on those two years that I had spent at my school, it was truly an amazing journey. With its four pillars of Leadership, Fellowship, Service, and Scholarship, PTK has been an academically life changing experience for me. I was challenged and as a result of it, I changed for the better. I was once a shy student who when put in the spotlight, I would speak very fast to get back into my comfortable seat. However, under Alpha Theta Phi’s leadership development program with Professor Chris Singh, I was able to step out from my comfort zone and was able to improve my public speaking skills. I was able to get in the habit of slowing my speaking pace and engaging with the audience. And the first time in my life, I felt good about my speaking ability because now, my audience could actually understand me. Because of this new skill that I had acquired, I was also able to connect with...

By Soleil Griffin Being a member and appointed officer of the Alpha Theta Phi chapter has been an enjoyable experience. Throughout my time participating in the planning process of the HIA project, PTK has been a vital component in enhancing my leadership ability and organizational skills. I’ve noticed that the skills that I developed in the course of 7 months have been transferable when it came to my marketing internship. Since being a part of the PTK program, I’ve been able to pay close attention to detail which gives me leverage when it comes to my job responsibility. Prior to officially joining PTK, I participated in leadership training workshops that one of the advisors held. During the workshop it gave me the tools to boost my confidence and take the initiative to engage with the officer team. The training also came in handy when I had to help coordinate the Honors in Action Project. Since I wasn’t comfortable with delegating tasks to people, the trainings did help elevat...

By Yuqing Guo I believe that when one door shuts, another opens. For my past life experience, I think I was lucky because every time I failed to do the things that I tried to do and felt depressed, there would be a favorable turn to help me overcome those obstacles. Today, I am struggling with financial problems and then my invitation to join Phi Theta Kappa materialized. Receiving a Foundation Scholarship to pay for my membership fee for PTK is a favorable turn because it is stressful for me to pay tuition, and I am eager to graduate from LaGuardia Community College quickly and get my Associate Degree in Nursing. People said that living in New York is not easy. When I saw my savings balance decreasing and my expenditures of living in New York increasing, I felt very stressed about paying my tuition. As an adult, I feel ashamed of asking my parents for financial support all the time, so I wanted to find my own way to pay for my expenses. Moreover, there are a lot of lim...