Senior Wildlife Biology major Kayla Barber shows how doing what you love can open doors for the future
When she moved from Pennsylvania to start her college career at Lees-McRae, senior Wildlife Biology major Kayla Barber knew she was going to have to push herself to break out of her comfort zone.
“Coming all the way down here by myself was kind of a risk, but I think it was a good one,” she said.
In high school Barber was involved in extracurriculars, but because she was surrounded by all the same people she had grown up with, Barber said she wasn’t truly branching out. At Lees-McRae however, not branching out wasn’t an option. After getting involved in Order of the Tower (OT), the college’s student leadership organization, her freshman year, Barber knew that getting involved around campus would be the best way to stretch herself socially.
In addition to OT, over the past four years Barber has been a part of the first-year engagement committee, served as sophomore class president, been a resident assistant and a head resident assistant, led the Campus Activities Board as the organization’s president, been an Orientation Leader, and done work with the Office of the Registrar. Now, as a senior, she is also serving as student body president and has a paid position as Housing Coordinator for Residence Life.
Barber, right, recruits new students to join Campus Activities Board at the college’s Club Fair. The organization hosts and organizes weekly social events on campus.
Campus Life’s Casino Night event is a hit every year. For the most recent event, Barber served as a dealer at one of the tables where students could play.
While all these extracurriculars have given her valuable skills and helped her make connections with her peers, faculty, and staff across campus, Barber’s prevailing wisdom when it comes to getting involved is to stick to the things you enjoy.
“Do what you like to do. Don’t be a people-pleaser and take on extra things just because you think you should. I feel like a lot of people in college are like, ‘I need to do this for my resume,’ or ‘I need to add this so grad schools will look at me.’ I feel like a lot of things I’ve done I haven’t really done thinking about my future which is kind of good and bad. It allowed me to live in the moment, and it worked out because I ended up getting involved in a lot of leadership roles and getting a lot of opportunities because I did stuff that I wanted to do,” she said. “I have an enjoyable life because all the things I’m involved in I actively want to be involved in, and it doesn’t stress me out to be involved in them. I want people to do things because they want to.”
By focusing on discovering the activities and organizations she truly enjoys, Barber has had a more enriching college experience and has even learned more about herself and her professional goals along the way.
She said that working with ambassador animals at the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and giving presentations to the community about wildlife preservation has pushed her toward pursuing a career in environmental education and animal advocacy, while her extracurricular experience in event planning has inspired her to lead and plan these programs herself.
Following graduation, Barber plans to earn a master’s degree and has applied to programs focusing on both anthrozoology and public policy, areas of study that she said she has become more interested in throughout her time at Lees-McRae thanks to her experiences both in the classroom and outside of it.
Over the next couple of months leading up to Commencement, however, Barber is focused on enjoying her time on campus and reflecting on all that she has accomplished while here.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot of things that I always wanted to do by the end of my college career. I don’t have a lot of bucket list things that I need to check off or a lot of personal growth things that I haven’t done,” she said. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at communicating. When I first got here, I kept to myself and stayed within my friend group, but I think branching out was one of the best things I did for myself.”
Barber feeds a bird at the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center during her summer clinicals.
