Dare to CONNECT

By Celine Chin, Northeastern University

Passion. Inspiration. Dedication. Team. Here at Northeastern University SASE, we like to work hard, and more importantly, work together. We are constantly motivating and inspiring each other, challenging ourselves to push past our limits. Every day, our executive board strives to plan meaningful events for our members so they can feel more connected to each other and to SASE. Not only do we promote the events we create, but we also promote the individual successes of our members. We want to make sure that our members feel celebrated and appreciated.

Our member base is full of passionate and unique individuals. They are creative problem-solvers with analytical minds and high ambitions. Each member has a different set of skills that we can’t help but want to show off. We invite them to lead technical skill workshops, covering topics such as website building, Excel tips and tricks, 3D printing, and anything else they are passionate about. We invite anyone to join our e-board meetings so they can directly share their feedback and ideas with us. We also showcase their stories of success on Facebook, such as supporting our former President’s start up company or sharing updates on the continuation of a past Innoservice challenge. We feature these growing leaders once a month as “Member of the Month” in our newsletter. Most importantly, we provide spaces for bonding and discussion where our members are encouraged to learn and grow from one another and create lasting friendships.

Our executive board is fierce, fearless, and undoubtedly, family. We are willing to work tirelessly together in order to accomplish our goals. Each member is never just satisfied with their own role, they will always seek out new ideas to help each other out, especially with programming, networking and volunteering. When planning for the 2016 Regional Conference, every person lent a helping hand despite their schedules, whether it was joining as committee heads or volunteering their abilities. Our board is always hungry. Hungry for new pursuits. Hungry for risks. Hungry for qualities to make our chapter stand out. Hungry for food at meetings. We are unafraid of experimenting with new ideas, seeking new opportunities and exploring uncharted territory if we believe it will help us shape our shared vision. What makes us strong is that at the end of the day, even after devoting hours towards event planning and compiling logistics, we remember that we are just a group of friends working with an idea.

Developing professional skills or even thinking about a career after college can give many students anxious thoughts. Even workshop settings or professional panels can be intimidating. So what do we do for this? Our number one priority is to create a tight-knit community of individuals passionate about STEM fields. We make sure that all our members get to know each other on a personal level through hangouts and initiatives such as our SASEpals program, where upperclassman offer helpful advice to newer members. In addition to forming relations within our own organization, we also love connecting with other clubs from the science and engineering communities, as well as with cultural clubs. From co-hosting a career panel with the Biology club to cooking turons with the Filipino group on campus, we aim to make our events varied but still enjoyable for all. We also enjoy collaborating with our fellow SASE chapters through events such as Sister Chapter Challenge, summer hang outs, and zoo volunteering.

In addition to mingling with our peers, we also attend professional networking events and keep in touch with past coworkers in order to create an expansive network. Our end goal is to build a huge interconnected network for SASE.

What happens when you connect the members, executive board, professional connections and Asian culture for SASE? Simply, we create our own unique and special community for our members to thrive.

SASE Northeastern University Chapter was awarded the 2016 Most Influential Honorable Mention award at the 2016 SASE National Conference in Dallas, TX.

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Follow NEU SASE at their website or Facebook for updates on the chapter and future events!