Phi Theta Kappa Provides Opportunities to Students
By: Ritwan Abdinor
Staff Writer
Green River College’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society achieves to produce leaders.
Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Fellowship. Four strong principles of an honor society. Dozens of students loom over their Emails in anticipation to get ‘the invitation’, an invitation that recognizes and exposes these students to a whirlwind of experiences and skills.
Invitations to honor societies are typically earned through academic achievement which ultimately result in leadership qualities and communication skills. These are all characteristics required for one to succeed in life but are honor societies worth it? More specifically why should you consider joining the Phi Theta Kappa society?
For starters, PTK offers more than $90 million in scholarships. Some of these scholarships are offered to non-members but most of them are only available to PTK members. Claudea Jennifer, the vice president of scholarships for PTK, mentions how most scholarships are mostly only offered during spring and fall quarters. Her job in the society is to help look for scholarships during summer and winter and share her results with her fellow members.
“My job is also to apply for the scholarships itself,” Jennifer said. “I know how to apply for it and the steps required which allows me to help other members, too.”
PTK also allows students to have an opportunity to develop research and leadership skills by participating in Honors In Action projects. HIA projects pushes students to do something or improve a situation in the community and then write up a research paper on it.
“We do this with sustain dialogues, we see a problem in the community and try to solve it with an event and after that we do a report about it,” Jennifer said.
“During the Muslim Awareness week, we did a sustain dialogue when an incident occurred where Muslims and people of color were insulted, Campus Awareness notified us that students were disturbed, we talked to students of different religious groups, we talked about it and how to recover from it,” said Patricia Wendy, the secretary of PTK.
This society also exposes its members to several workshops such as Competitive Edge and College Fish. Competitive edge is an exclusive online professional development plan that is designed for PTK members to practice and strengthen the soft skills that many employers look for.
“There are five different levels you go through,” said Megan Evans, the advisor for the Honor Society. “Going through each level there is some tasks you complete, and you end up with a resume, a cover letter, knowing how to do a job interview and how to apply for another school. This is really helpful to students.” College Fish helps students to search and select the best fit four-year college, give planning support for transfer students and also helps with scholarship search and recommendations.
“It’s a whole scholarship warehouse database where you put in your information, criteria and where you want to go to school,” Evans said. “It will help you find scholarships and also help you be in track. For example, if you were to go to UW and the due date for applications was near, it makes sure you got all the steps done.”
One of the most exciting parts of becoming a member, however, is the ability to learn new people, cultures, helping out the community and the ability to make connections. “I wouldn’t know the people I know now if it wasn’t for PTK, it allowed me to have connections with people,” Wendy said.
“For me I get to learn different things that I can do for my community, even though if I move somewhere, I still have access to the tools PTK has given me like the ability to communicate well,” said Kayla Lawrence, the vice president of service for PTK.
Having a Grade Point Average of 3.5 and completing a minimum of 12 credits at the college is what makes a student a PTK member. However, to maintain membership one needs to maintain a 3.0. This discourages many students because of the high expectations.
“Students that are not familiar with the society think that members are already smart,” Lawrence said. “I don’t think I am. In my first quarter, I didn’t do well, but just try. There is a lot of resources and most people are not willing to try they just give up.” Wendy mentions how you don’t have to be a member to get involved and how they are welcome to everyone.
Golden opportunities are also available to non-members. Students who participate in the society and help with volunteer work get a chance to get nominated to join the club for only $10. Members of PTK pay a $75 registration fee.
Participation in the community such as graffiti cleanup that members do every month, attending meetings and also attending events helps students earn Regalia points. “Regalia points count as cash,” Evans said. “The graduation regalia costs $45 but when students earn enough points, they can either get it for free or at a…lower price.”
PTK is worth it once you get involved in your community. Becoming an active member allows students to take advantage of the resources and opportunities that PTK has to offer. In addition, people can develop relationships with administrators on campus and other students. Wendy “would be in her personal own personal bubble,” if it was not for PTK.
