It wasn’t until Kay Tinder joined OrangeSeeds her freshman that she gained confidence to take the lead.

“I’m not as hesitant to take lead as I used to be or be afraid to speak up,” Tinder said.

Now, the sophomore television, radio and film major wants to pass on her positive experiences to this year’s class as a mentor and an executive board member.

OrangeSeeds is a leadership empowerment program at Syracuse University that accepts a class of about 25 freshmen and transfer students every year. The program helps new students find their niche on campus during their first semester, and in their second semester the group puts together a service project.

While working on the second semester service project during her time as a seed, Tinder said she learned how a group of people with a diverse skill set can collaborate to create something successful. This skill helped Tinder build upon the skills she learned as a mentor and executive board member of OrangeSeeds.

“I had to learn to communicate effectively with different groups of people. I learned how to really believe in myself,” Tinder said. “Being on E-board, you really have to learn what your boundaries are. What do you tell the seeds and what do you let them learn from experience? You have to sit on the sidelines and judge when to jump in.”

Tinder has applied the skills she learned from being a seed and a mentor to other parts of her life. She took the initiative to be a founding officer of Delta Kappa Alpha, a new cinematic fraternity. She explained that before OrangeSeeds, she would have just considered pledging instead of trying to take on a leadership role.

Now, one of Tinder’s goals as a mentor is to help her seeds learn from her mistakes, as well as the things she did right her freshman year.

“I really love my mentees, and I want to be there for them,” Tinder said. “I just want to make sure I’m a resource for them to make their freshman year as good as it can possibly be.”

Published on November 3, 2014 at 12:18 am

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