The National Society of Leadership & Success is coming back to campus bigger and stronger than ever before on campus. It is still the largest organization on campus and the chapter still plans to outgrow themselves each semester. The NSLS is the nation’s largest leadership honor society. Students are selected by their college for membership based on either academic standing or leadership potential. Candidacy is a nationally recognized achievement of honorable distinction.

In addition to honorable distinction, the NSLS provides a step-by-step program for members to build their leadership skills through participation at their campus or online. Upon completion of the program, members receive their leadership certificate and take their place among the top student leaders at their campus and across the country. Members are able to list their affiliation on all statements of personal accomplishment, including their resume.  

Membership is for life and provides access to benefits including scholarships and awards, exclusive on-campus events, employer recruitment through an online job bank, and discounts on computers, textbooks, grad school prep courses, insurance and much more. Once you have paid your registration fee, you are considered a member (also known as pre-inducted member) with access to certain benefits. In order to become an inducted member, one must complete the following steps: 

1. Orientation: the first meeting that occurs each semester and will give you access to all the information you need about the program in order to successfully complete the steps for induction as a member.
2. Leadership Training Day: an interactive video training session with a workbook designed to help you identify and overcome any obstacles that may interfere with obtaining your goals. This introspective seminar helps you to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and lastly to shift your focus toward your real passions. 
3. Three speaker broadcast events: you will watch some of the world’s most successful motivational speakers discussing topics related to leadership, identifying goals, facing challenges, personal growth, and successfully transitioning from college to career.
4. Three Success Networking Team meetings: bring together groups of students that work together and provide peer coaching on achieving goals. You can discuss goals, desires and expectations, set timelines and hold each other accountable for achieving what you want. The Success Networking Team provides members with a support network of like-minded goal-oriented students on campus.

After completing these steps, applicants will be invited to an induction ceremony to receive a membership kit.

The NSLS Chapter at Texas A&M University-Texarkana currently has 324 members. However, the chapter expects a significant jump in that number over the next month. The chapter sent out 618 invitations on Friday, September 6th and received 11 joins in  3 days. Members who received an invitation have until October 3rd, 2019 to accept the invitations.

Next month, Emily Page, Bethany Melton, Darrylynn Dean, and Philip Derouen (the writer of this article) plan to attend a conference in Houston, Texas to bring back more ideas from chapters nationwide right back to Texas A&M University-Texarkana. Emily Page and Bethany Melton were two of the first inducted members on campus since the chapter started in 2018 and they both moved up to serve on its Executive Board. Fall 2019 is Emily’s first semester to serve on the Executive Board and she says she could not be more excited. “I’m so happy I said yes and I don’t regret the decision at all. I’m beyond happy and thankful to work alongside both of y’all,” Emily said.