Interview with Eric Rivera, November 25, 2019

Emma Gibson: Alright, hi Eric! Thanks for doing this! So the first question I want to ask, it's a vague one, what does leadership mean to you?

Eric Rivera: I feel like to me, leadership is, you know, kind of just stepping up and taking charge in the right way and that looks different in many cases, but to me, stepping up would just be kind of leading by example or looking out for others, especially within your leadership role and just being aware of your surroundings in order to move forward and guide whoever steps through the door that you are going to open for them.

EG: Yeah, definitely. You talked a little bit about leading by example, that kind of leads into my next question which is, how would you characterize your leadership style? How would you describe it?

ER: I feel like my leadership style is very lax, like in the sense that I feel like I don't-- there are some leaders that can be commanding and I get uncomfortable commanding, so I feel like a lot of times I'm always encouraging and I'm always trying to find the goofiness in however I lead, that way others feel comfortable to be themselves and open up and show up.

EG: So do you think there is any one experience or a bunch of experiences and moments in your life that have shaped you as a leader, like in your position?

ER: I think that the culmination of my leadership came through during this past year, doing Orientation Council and I feel like, looking back, if I would have done it freshman year or sophomore year, then I would have just been different and I wouldn't have been as effective maybe. I feel like from freshman year up until now, I like, learned things and grew into myself and got more confident in myself in those two years, in order to lead this past year. And um-- can you repeat the question?

EG: What experiences have shaped you?

ER: Yeah oh like personal experiences?

EG: Yeah.

ER: I feel like being involved on campus and being involved in different areas, whether that be Greek Life, or Orientation, or leading a class in the FitRec, I feel like that calls for a different kind of leader in each way. Oh and being a cheerleader, which to me is not a leadership role, but I thought it gave me more confidence in order to be in front of people. I feel like all those things lead up to being on Orientation Council, which to me, I feel like the way I approached it, taught me to not take it so seriously and be effective and care about what you're doing and what you're saying, but not to the point where people feel uncomfortable to follow your leadership style or you know, don't understand what you're trying to portray or trying to encourage.

EG: My next question is, were there any obstacles or challenges that you faced, I guess in your whole career as a leader, but more specifically in OC and how did you learn from those and how did you overcome those and how did that play into your growth?

ER: I think that with Orientation Council, my one obstacle was not trusting my voice because I am kind of a blunt, honest, like straight up person. I would rather just tell it as it is, but I was trying to be as encouraging as possible. Especially during Summer Orientation, when we wanted our Summer Staffers to perform better or focus on the new students coming in, instead of just talking to each other, and normally I would just be honest and call it out as it is but I was really trying to to try a different style of leading by encouraging and stuff. But at the end of the day, I just learned to trust my own voice and what I say or whatever comes out of my mouth, as long as it has good intentions behind it, then that is what I need to trust.

EG: Wow, so moving on into my next question. This one kind of has to do with dealing with large groups and bigger organizations, like TT and OC. Do you have any advice for building relationships and trust within an organization that big? Because I know that sometimes it's hard to connect with every person, especially in a group of that size, but what do you think about connecting the group?

ER: Well when it comes to big group where you don't know everyone, it's kind of hard and I think you have to take into account that people are either intimidated or nervous about being in that environment. I think that you kind of have to step up and be the first one to say hi, even when you're normally not the first one to say hi. I think that something as simple as that can go a long way, you know, eye contact is more easy and you could just start conversations from there, with the stranger that you don't know in the community. As far as with people that you do know, I think that, well this should go with anyone that you do know or don't know, kind of meeting people where they are and kind of being open with yourself so that others can be open. Especially in the role of OC, I had to learn to not necessarily expand my personality but be the one to break down my walls quicker so that others could follow and do the same.

EG: So this next question kind of goes back to the beginning. Why OC? What drew you to the position? Was there anyone in specific that pushed you to do it or anything like that? How did you end up here?

ER: So I applied my sophomore, going into my junior year and I ended up not getting it and after reflecting and going through me year and kind of learning about where I was at that time when I applied, I kind of realized that I wasn't in it for the right reasons. So after that, I kind of just was like against applying again, because I had plans to go do Belmont West and that was always my plan. But then I did summer staff and that taught me how to lead better and then because of that, I was able to do a diversity panel that kind of just highlight being of a minority at Belmont and coming off the stage after that presentation, the response of incoming minorities at Belmont that said thank you or that asked me more questions or that showed me their fears about being here or whatever that may have been. I kind of left those conversations thinking, maybe I should apply again, just because I didn't see that when I was a freshman. There weren't any hispanics or anyone who came from a family of immigrants and so I kind of wanted to help ease the minds of the students that did come from those backgrounds. So then I just ended up staying in Nashville to apply and yeah-- now that's where we are.

EG: Awe, and the rest is history! So, how do you think you have grown as a leader and more specifically as a person through this position?

ER: As a leader, I grew to be more comfortable, well the goes for me as a leader and me as a person, I just feel more confident and comfortable. I feel like during the beginning parts of high school, I would be nervous to open up really quick or I would be very reserved in big group settings and I just feel like growing throughout this whole process, I have more of this calming feeling like: I don't know what is going to happen with my life past school and I'm okay with that. In tangent to that, I'm just really comfortable with being around people, especially if I don't know them. And as far as leading, I kind of mentioned this before, I always say to be self aware and know what is going on around you. I think that is really powerful, like going up to someone that you see is acting different or not having a good time or maybe doesn't feel comfortable in themselves and just being aware of that and being able to step and and be like "hey are you good? You're doing great, what can I do for you?" and again like I said before, meeting people where they are.

EG: Cool, soo my last question, you kind of mentioned this, is about the future and you know, you're a senior and you're graduating. So it's statistically proven that students who are more involved in campus and that hold leadership positions, perform better in the professional world. So do you think that there is anything that sort of prepared you, I mean obviously there is such a difference between leading on OC and working in an office or something like that, but do you think that there are any traits or anything that you've picked up that you know "this will help me later on"?

ER: I definitely picked up communication. Usually, I would have things bother me and you could see it on my face but I would never be able to say it, so just communicating effectively is definitely something that I've picked up. Picking up just being myself right off the bat and having intention behind every action, I feel like that can help me as well. Also the ability to kind of jump into whatever task and whether that is jumping into a task in the office [sic] or jumping into task that is making up a dance in front of 5,000 people, I just think that those are two very different things but those are both things that I had to jump and swim with and if I drowned then I had other people around me to communicate with to help me out. I think that a lot of that is very applicable to stepping out of your comfort zone in the office space or going for a different profession that you didn't think you'd go for or whatever that may be.

EG: Thank you. This was incredible, best of luck in your future. Thanks, Eric!