{"id":892,"date":"2018-10-15T09:03:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T13:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lead.worcester.edu\/?p=285"},"modified":"2024-04-04T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T14:00:31","slug":"kate-surprenant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worcester.edu\/campus-life\/2018\/10\/15\/kate-surprenant\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Basketball Captain Kate Surprenant Discusses Women in Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kate Surprenant, a self-described feminist and passionate leader on the basketball court and across campus, shares her perspective on leadership and the importance of putting your heart into everything you do.<\/p>\n

Written by Jess Evora, Assistant Director, OSILD
\nPhotos provided by K. Surprenant<\/h5>\n
\n

Kate Surprenant is our Women\u2019s Basketball<\/a> captain. She is one of our 2018 Orientation<\/a> Co-Directors. She is also a member of several honor societies (Phi Eta Sigma, ODK, and Alpha Chi), and an employee of both the Student Center<\/a> and the Wellness Center<\/a>.\u00a0 This is all in addition to her full load of coursework as a senior Occupational Therapy<\/a> major at WSU.<\/p>\n

However, titles don\u2019t mean much to Kate. She is focused on what she can do to help others. She genuinely cares about making sure she looks out for her peers. This is what makes Kate a leader.<\/p>\n

An individual has to truly care about those around them, and they have to put in the work. Kate does just that.<\/p>\n

Kate describes herself as an emotional leader. \u201cKristie [Director of the WSU Office of Student Involvement<\/a>] actually made me aware of this,\u201d Kate said. \u201cAnd I agree with it. I\u2019m a very passionate leader, and I want to see the people I work with genuinely succeed and improve. The success of others means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also a very vocal leader, especially on my [basketball] team,\u201d Kate said. \u201cI voice things I don\u2019t like and things I like. It\u2019s important as captain to be the voice for those that are working with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate feels that she is definitely grown as a person over time, and this has made a positive impact on her development as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a very small town in southern New Hampshire, so I wasn\u2019t exposed to a lot of people with different backgrounds,\u201d Kate said. \u201cComing to WSU was a great experience for me because of the diversity here. I learned that in order to lead people you need to understand them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate\u2019s Leadership Roles on Campus<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As Women\u2019s Basketball Captain and Co-Director of Orientation, Kate has come to realize that you have to be personally invested in order to truly serve as a great leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to serve in the leadership positions I\u2019ve take on here at Worcester State, if I didn\u2019t believe in what I\u2019m doing,\u201d Kate said. \u201cYou can\u2019t lead something well that you don\u2019t wholeheartedly believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOrientation brings people together that may not have met before, and they are taught so much more about themselves,\u201d Kate said. \u201cOf course, Orientation is about welcoming new students, but it\u2019s also an amazing journey for the Orientation Leaders themselves as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kate

Kate with the 2018 Worcester State Orientation Leaders<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnd with basketball, my coach is amazing, and so is our team\u201d Kate said. \u201cOur team also has the chance to go on trips team members may not have otherwise been able to afford.”<\/p>\n

“My teammates and fellow Orientation Leaders are the pioneers in changing who I was as a person in college, especially as a leader. Kate said. “I wouldn\u2019t have grown without them being so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women and Leadership<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Kate, who grew up with three brothers, explained that her identity as a female has played a large impact on how she has developed as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoles are very gendered, and I don\u2019t love it,\u201d Kate said. \u201cI am a feminist for a reason. Even as a child I was pretty outgoing and outspoken and I would say how I felt. People tell girls you have to be quiet. Men had the leadership roles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kate<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just can\u2019t hold a person\u2019s personality back,\u201d Kate said. \u201cAnd I cared too much to not say anything. I held positions in student government in high school because I cared. It\u2019s really important for women to find their voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her Biggest Lesson<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest lesson I\u2019ve learned about leadership is that you are not always going to be well-liked if you are doing it right,\u201d Kate said. \u201cStereo-typically, leaders are popular and well-liked and may be the best at what they do. And so as Co-Director of Orientation and Basketball Captain, I was too worried about being liked,\u201d Kate said. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m comfortable enough to know that they respect me, and that\u2019s equally, if not more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to students who are still trying to find their role as a leader in the community? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing I would say is that leadership takes time, and becoming a leader is a constant development,\u201d Kate said. \u201cYou can\u2019t ever be satisfied with where you are. Don\u2019t get discouraged and there is always so much to learn about yourself as a leader.\u00a0You should never be satisfied with where you are. There is always so much to learn about yourself as a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts from Kate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA really close friend used to share this quote with me when I was struggling as a leader, and I\u2019d like to share it with you,\u201d Kate said. \u201c\u2018As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.<\/em>\u2019 [a quote from Marianne Williamson]\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kate summed up the message of this quote in her own words: \u201cIf you do your thing, then everything else gets taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Thank you Kate for the words of encouragement and for your contributions to the Worcester State community. We look forward to seeing you finish out your senior year strong.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

The Office of Student Involvement & Leadership Development<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kate Surprenant is a passionate leader. She is a feminist and believes you have to put your heart into the work that you do. Kate is doing just that in her many roles here on campus, including her position as Women’s Basketball Captain. Kate took the time to share her beautiful perspective on leadership with us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,1,9,15],"tags":[17,18,10],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversity-inclusion","category-faces-of-leadership","category-interview","category-student","tag-athlete","tag-occupational-therapy","tag-orientation-leader"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWomen's Basketball Captain Kate Surprenant Discusses Women in Leadership | Worcester State University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worcester.edu\/campus-life\/2018\/10\/15\/kate-surprenant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women's Basketball Captain Kate Surprenant Discusses Women in Leadership | Worcester State University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kate Surprenant is a passionate leader. 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