Running head: HIGHER EDUCATION AND GROUPTHINK1GROUPTHINK2

Alyssa MazeyHigher Education and GroupthinkKent State University

In order for me to show how much this experience truly impacted me, I think it is only fair you see how I got to the point I am in today. How did I get to where I am today?Four years ago I graduated from Kent Roosevelt High School. I had everything I thought I could ever want. I knew what I wanted to be when I was done with college, I had a boyfriend that I loved and cared about very much, I had a supportive best friend and I had an amazing family. I was going to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania for Pre-Pharmacy. My boyfriend and I were going to be long distant and we were going to make it and my best friend and I were going to be perfect best friends from over state boarders. On November 2nd, my perfect relationship came crashing down and the rest of my freshman year was a blur. I went through the motions of my daily lifegetting up and solely thinking about the next time I could go to bed would be. I still loved my major, though so at least I still had that going for me. Chemistry consumed my days and most of my nights, but it is what I loved so it did not matter. Upon finishing my freshman year, my best friend since 7th grade had a terrible separation with her boyfriend and found herself in the darkest place possible. She would not eat, sleep, and would rarely go to class. She got a B in her first class ever and that is when we realized that something had to change. I made the decision to transfer to Kent State University in June of 2011 to be with my best friend. During this time, I decided to shadow a pharmacist to make sure that pharmacy was still a career filed of interest to me. After spending a day with a pharmacist, I decided that making medicine is not the field for me. After this experience I decided that I would rather sell the medicine then make it. I do not mean sell the medicine literally because pharmaceutical sales is not something I would like to go into. What I mean is that I would much rather talk to people then sit in a basement and make medicine. My love for people is what led me to my communication major. After I had it figured out what I love to study, it was time to figure out how to make a career of something I love. I had many ideas ranging from being a Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI to running marketing and Public Relations for a firm, but none of these seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I did not find what my true calling was until the Summer of 2013. During the Spring 2013 semester, I was enrolled with a Peer Leadership Workshop. This workshop enabled me to take many leadership experiences and opportunities on Kent States campus, one of them being Flashguidng. The role of the Flashguide is crucial to the summer orientation process for first year students. I assisted with over 10 Destination Kent State sessions, with over 400 students and parents in each session. These interactions with students, parents, and my supervisors helped lead me to being interested in Higher Education and Student Affairs. After I drank the kool aid of the Higher Education world, I continued to take on many leadership roles and positions to further my experience and expertise in this field. Currently I am a Intern for the Student Success Programs office. I teach a seminar once a week, have meetings twice a week with a partner, and attend a seminar to enhance my classroom facilitation skills.

How have I grown and improved? Four years ago, I would never imagine that I would be where I am today. Four years ago I was immature and only focusing on the now rather then the later. I was worried about my relationships with my boyfriend and best friend before I was worried about anything else. I did not care much about being involved or paying careful attention in my classes. Three years ago, I began to grow up. I started to focus more on my likes and dislikes and how I could incorporate my likes into my future career plans and goals. I changed my major and found something that suited me and brought out the best in myself. Learning about why others communicate the way the do and how it is important is something that is interesting to me and something that I can use for the rest of my life in any given job/career/life situation. Two years ago I started to focus my efforts on incorporating what I was learning in communication classes to my leadership roles and experiences. Last year, I put it all into play. I used the skills and knowledge that I was learning in class and in leadership positions and applied them to internships and making connections. If you would have asked freshmen Alyssa what almost graduating Alyssa would be doing, there is no way she would have said I would be where I am now. Freshman Alyssa would be proud of me now; I am confident in that.

Who influenced me? Two summers ago I was waiting in line to get on the bus for my Destination Kent State bus tour-training seminar. I was the last person in line to get on the bus and as I made my way up the stairs I was greeted by a friendly smile. I stuck out my hand and said, hi, my name is Alyssa Mazey and I am very excited to be here. I just wanted to introduce myself just incase you did not know who I am. She shook my hand and told me that she was well aware of who I was and she was excited for me to be there too. Low and behold, a year and a half later I am proud to call Emily Carl, the bus tour woman and coordinator for Student Success Programs my mentor and friend. She has helped me strive to be the best version of myself that there is. She is a kind heart, a confidant, a mentor, and best of alla communication graduate from Kent State University. Emily has played a key role in my undergraduate story and I owe her many thanks in the aiding of my success thus far. She explores graduate school options with me, is there to bounce ideas off of, give me advice about what my classes are like, and listens to me vent when my world is crashing down and I am not sure what direction my future is going in. She has been the best influence that I could ever ask for. Although Emilys intentions are nothing but the best, this key role she plays in my decisions can often times be considered a process of groupthink. In a study done by William I. Sauser of Auburn University and Ronald Sims of College of William and Mary, groupthink and received wisdom are connected. The study done by Sauser and Sims states that not all received wisdom can be positive or the truth. They compare received wisdom to groupthink by explaining how groupthink often times demonstrates strong pressures towards conformity in groups (Sauser, W. I, & Sims, R. R, 2013). Although I do not believe Emily would ever lead me astray and I believe she wants me to do what is best for me, not what she thinks is best for me, this study taught me the importance of being able to rely on myself for feeling what is right for me to do when making decisions. What courses have challenged me?The hardest class of my undergraduate career thus far and been Freedom of Speech with Dr. Trebing. This class challenged and frustrated me in many ways. I spent many hours studying for exams, doing papers and researching many freedoms of speech cases. While this class frustrated me the most, it was also the class that taught me the most. It taught me the importance of knowing your first amendment rights and when it is most appropriate to exercise those rights. I was able to utilize my resources and seek help when I needed it. Dr.Trebing is one of my favorite professors and his knowledge on every topic he teaches on is plentiful. Although this class was extremely difficult, I also learned the most.

Why did I choose to experience an Internship in Greek Affairs? When I first started my life of being an involved student on Kent States campus, I started with joining Greek life and becoming a member of Alpha Xi Delta. Through Alpha Xi Delta, I was able to gain many leadership experiences and positions beginning with recruitment chair, expanding to social and fundraising chairs, and finally our Financial Vice President. Greek life has always been a huge part of me and my life and the person I am today so I began to believe that I could make a career out of it. I had a meeting with my mentor and began to tell her my ideas of wanting to have a career focused around Greek life. I talked to Meredith Bielaska and she agreed to have me as an intern for Fall 2014. I was very excited for the long hours, the sleepless nights and the intense learning and knowledge that I would gain through this experience. As the weeks went on, we came upon Formal Sorority Recruitment rather quickly. After staffing the Greek Life table and remaining as a fly on the wall, I was able to hear a few of the conversations that the potential new members were having. One conversation would begin and one PNM would start to say which sororities she felt the closest connections too. Her friend would disagree with her, state how she felt, and then all of a sudden the topic of conversation was now about how neither of the two girls felt connections with the first sorority they began talking about. This whole conversation was baffling to me. As the rounds of sorority recruitment on, I began hearing similar conversations and the more and more the girl who began thinking she liked one sorority was often times talked out it just by a casual conversation. While sitting and observing I began thinking I have heard an example similar to this somewhere before but I could not remember where. The days went on and finally it dawned on me during Preference round (the last day) of recruitment. I have heard similar ideas to this in my Communication Theory class, and this was a prime example of Groupthink. According to Oxford University Press, groupthink is the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility (2014). This definition is an exact example of what groupthink is. The girls who began thinking she liked one sorority was discouraged from her decision by a group conversation. I believe that in the future the Vice President of Recruitment and Retention needs to do a better job of making sure that they Potential New Members are not talking about their favorite/least favorite chapters with one another. I believe it is an unfair for a member to be so easily persuaded by a simple conversation.

The EndUpon my graduation in just a few short days, I am leaving knowing and learning many, many things about myself. I have learned the importance of being me. I have realized that I am an individual that makes decisions based on how I feel about things and if something does not feel right to me, then I will not do it. With that, I have also realized the importance of being able to stand my ground when making a decision. I respect the opinions of those individuals that I seek advice from, but that does not always mean that their decision for me is going to be my decision for me. This internship has brought me through a journey and a whirlwind of life and adventures. My journey through Higher Education started even before this experience was given to me and I am forever grateful for all that it has offered.

ReferencesGroupthink. (2014). Oxford dictionaries: Online. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/groupthink?searchDictCode=all Sims, R. R., & Sauser, W. I. (2013). Toward a Better Understanding of the Relationships among Received Wisdom, Groupthink, and Organizational Ethical Culture. Journal Of Management Policy & Practice, 14(4), 75-90.