Lauren Mitchell | theYARD Editor

The Council of Presidents (COP) hosted The Presidents Oval, a panel discussion about being a student leader at N.C. A&T.
Presidents from the ‘Big Five’ organizations including had the opportunity to share their experiences of leadership while balancing out their academics.
Organization presidents in attendance included SGA President Allison Gillmore, SUAB President Tre Ingram, COP President CJ Lyles, Joint Greek Council President Krystal Barnes and Residence Hall Association President Mackenzie Myers.
Topics of discussion included school and work life balance, tactics for working with executive board members and keys to effective leadership.
Panelists stressed the importances of effective communication. Many of the panelists expressed that communicating is not about being heard, but about listening to others.
During a question and answer portion an attendee questioned panelists about how they think their positions have impacted them personally and professionally.
“Being a president taught me how to do more self care but professionally I feel like I’ve learned so much like diplomacy and managerial skills,” Gilmore said.
With election season coming up this panel’s goal was to help attendees step into leadership and understand that leadership is not a temporary position.
“Make sure you’re doing it for the right reason, some people do things because they think it will put them in a better light, but make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons,” Ingram said when asked about how to decide if going into leadership is the right decision for some people.