This week, I spoke with Elon Senior Olivia Jacquier, who is the current President of Sigma Tau Delta. Sigma Tau Delta (STD) is the English Honor Society for students at four year colleges and universities who are within the top 30% of their class and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Olivia is an English major with a concentration in Teaching Licensure from Connecticut, who was looking to get more involved on campus and make new friends.
“I basically eat, sleep, and breathe English. Being the STD President, working at the writing center, and my major take up all of my time, but I love it,” Olivia laughs.
Olivia was elected as the President of Sigma Tau Delta by her STD peers. Through her position, she has been able to plan fun on-campus events, such as the Halloween Book & Costume Party, the STD induction dinner, and work alongside her friends and amazing advisor. Being the President of STD has also opened up many professional opportunities for Olivia. She plans to attend a conference with her fellow STD officers in Las Vegas this year.
“Being a part of STD does give you so many opportunities, both professional and personal, which is really nice. There are not that many opportunities where you get to go to a conference in Las Vegas for $100 to network,” says Olivia.
Olivia says one of the hardest challenges of her role as President is time management. With schoolwork and a job in addition to her position, she is very busy.
“The position is as much as you want it to be. We just sat down and planned an event and that was something we all wanted to do, so we made the time. I’m a senior about to work full time so I’m crazy busy, but this was something that I was willing to set aside my personal time to do,” says Olivia.
I asked Olivia why she thinks students should join Sigma Tau Delta.
“I think it’s a great thing to put on your resume, even if you just want to join but don’t have the free time to fully be a part of it. You worked hard to get your GPA to the level STD requires and you earned it and should take full advantage of it,” says Olivia.
Olivia believes that this position has taught her to jump at opportunities to become more involved.
“I think it has taught me to be appreciative of everything. Being President really worked out for me and I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that have been handed to me because of it.”
Sigma Tau Delta is open for junior English majors or minors here at Elon who have taken four English courses beyond ENG 110 and have an overall GPA of 3.0 and at least a 3.25 GPA in English. If this is the case, students will get an email from the Elon English Department and that will explain the simple process to apply.