My AMA Journey—Tips for Getting Involved from the AMA President
By: Christina Strati
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Christina Strati, and I am your current AMA President! I wanted to use my blog post as an opportunity to provide advice on how to get the most out of AMA. I have loved my four years in this org, and I am so thankful for the professional and social opportunities it has created for me. So without further ado, here are my tips for getting involved in AMA!
The best decision I ever made in AMA was joining the mentorship program. Not only did it connect me to other AMA members, but it gave me my two best friends in AMA! If you are considering joining the mentorship program, do it! It’s a really low time commitment and it is a great way for underclassmen to get involved. By becoming a mentee, you will be assigned a mentor to meet with once a month. You can talk about anything you’d like: resumes, internships, classes, your social life at OSU, your pets, your hobbies—the possibilities are endless! The main benefit to becoming a mentee is that once you make a connection with one person in AMA, it will be easier to branch out and make more friends. Although AMA is a professional org, I like to think of it as a social org as well, so meeting people is essential to maximize your AMA experience!
Next up, find small ways to get involved in AMA outside of the weekly meetings. Whether that’s joining a committee to help our executive board, attending our socials, or dropping in at our resume workshop, there are plenty of ways to get involved! Although our weekly meetings provide a great way to connect with professionals, each extra event you attend will bring you closer to meeting AMA members. As a freshman, I joined the social committee. This experience in part led me to be elected the Vice President of Events the following year. You never know where your involvement will take you!
I initially joined AMA to build my resume and get exposure to internship opportunities, but AMA has become so much more to me. As a freshman, I never imagined myself as the AMA President, but after years of getting involved and building up my passion for AMA, I am so glad to have this opportunity! I believe our org has a lot of value for its members, but you will get out of it what you put into it. I hope this blog post encouraged you to become more involved in AMA! See you on Wednesday at 7:30!