Leadership opportunities are a great way to build your application for residency. They also provide experiences that will help you to make a difference in the way things are done. In this post, I will highlight the abundance of leadership opportunities available to students on the island.

Each opportunity requires a different level of commitment and many students choose to pursue several roles if their schedule allows them to.

Club Executive Boards

AUC St. Maarten has approximately 30 student run clubs and organizations. Each of these are required to have at least four executive board positions as defined by the Student Government bylaws. These positions are typically appointed by the existing board either by direct appointment or through an application process. I recommend getting to know the E-Board of clubs that you are interested in and being proactive about open positions. (I was appointed to president of one of my clubs directly after being involved as the Research Coordinator. It pays off to get involved and put your best foot forward.)

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) is made up of an executive board (president, secretary, treasurer and historian), class representatives and about a dozen chair positions. These are all elected positions determined by a general election at the beginning of each semester. However, many of these positions run unopposed as two people may hold the same chair position and classes are allowed up to four representatives. Class representatives must run for their current class and serve as a liaison between their classmates and the general SGA council. Chair positions include curriculum, research, volunteering, student affairs, wellness, athletics and club chairs. Each have unique responsibilities, allowing students to chose one that best matches their interests.

Student Judicial Council

The Student Judiciary Council (SJC) is an opportunity for students to work directly with the Dean of Student affairs as an intermediary between the Dean and students reported for a violation of the student code of conduct. SJC helps serve as a “jury” of sorts to determine appropriate repercussions for these violations and serves as an unbiased third party in conflicts between students or between students and faculty. To serve on SJC, you cannot be a member of the SGA, as this is the body responsible for mediating issues between students and the SGA if necessary.

Tutoring positions

There are two official styles of tutoring facilitated by the Academic Teaching and Learning department: course tutoring and peer to peer tutoring. To be eligible, students must have achieved a high grade in the course they plan to tutor for. Invitations are sent out after a module concludes or shortly before a new semester starts.

Course tutoring is a lecture style that follows the timeline established by the lecture schedule. These tutors are paid a small amount per hour and are often able to choose which days they want to cover based on the schedule created by the lead tutors. They cannot choose the time of the sessions (these are designed in a way to facilitate efficient tutoring for all semesters) but they are only required to cover two sessions per semester.

Peer to peer tutoring allows students to work one on one or with a small group of students. They typically design their own schedule with their tutees and more closely cover that individual’s needs. This route allows more flexibility but requires a little more consistency from week to week. It is organized by the school but it is an unpaid position.

Teaching Assistant opportunities

Histology lab, ultrasound lab, Harvey lab, and anatomy lab all have teaching assistant positions available for students who meet the academic requirements. This is typically a percent grade for a relevant course and/ or a certain level of performance on relevant evaluations (for example: anatomy practical scores for potential anatomy TAs).

These experiences allow students to work more closely with the professors and share their knowledge with students in the semesters below them. The hours vary for each of these roles but professors are very mindful of students’ time and make sure to keep it manageable.

Additional benefits of leadership positions

One of the most underrated aspects of these leadership positions is the increased opportunities to connect with your peers. Many of my friendships on island were built off of my meeting people through SGA, tutoring, or working as a TA. These roles helped me to connect with more people from other semesters as well as some the other students in my own cohort.

Thank you for reading! If you found this helpful, please comment! I will keep trying to share my experiences with you all.