Many high school students want to continue their passions throughout college. Monica Youssef is no exception.
Youssef currently serves as the president of Bradley Fellows, a public service and leadership organization on campus that accepts just 15 students each school year. However, volunteering is nothing new to Youssef. In high school, she took advantage of volunteer opportunities at hospitals and through her church.
“I told [a past Fellows president] this whole spiel and he was like, ‘You should apply for the Bradley Fellows,’” Youssef, senior professional sales and social media marketing major, said. “So it’s something that I didn’t really know was coming my way, but kind of came to me, and I immediately applied and I got [accepted].”
Youssef applied to be on Fellows executive board in the spring of her sophomore year. After being selected for membership in the organization, she worked as the social and publicity committee chair in addition to organizing the group’s fall retreat.
“I just felt an unbelievable amount of support from this group,” Youssef said. “That definitely motivated me to apply for president, and [I] really put my all into running for it because I wanted to put my impact in this group just as it’s done for me.”
As president, Youssef is working through new transitions within the organization, such as a new office space and a new advisor. Additionally, she coordinated Fellows freshman orientation this past August to welcome the new members.
“I feel blessed to be working with Monica and alongside everyone else on this [executive board] for the school year,” Miles Juarez, Fellows publicity chair and junior sports communication and business management leadership double major, said. “She was one of the reasons why I wanted to run for exec, just seeing her energy and her commitment to Fellows. It really is inspiring to others.”
Junior history and secondary education double major Annie Carroll said she draws on Youseff’s engaging attitude while at Fellows.
“Monica is super dedicated to anything that she does,” Carroll said. “She’s also a positive, energetic person and friend. She’s really good at building relationships with those around her to help motivate [others].”
Youssef said she did not expect to be elected as Fellows president but considers getting elected and the work she’s done on the executive board as her biggest accomplishments in college.
“[Being president] definitely has prepared me to go into the real world and take both the leadership skills I’ve built here into a career, but also take what I’ve learned here with volunteering and community service to be able to pay that forward as a community member,” Youssef said.
