It builds up to something bigger.

That’s how any leadership role is, said Emily Wade, senior in speech communications.

And Wade would know. She’s served as the director of the ISU Blood Drive, president of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, member of Rho Lambda National Sorority Leadership Recognition Society and member of Golden Key Honor Society, Public Relations Student Society of America and ISU Communications Club.

And people working with her were watching.

Wade was given two awards April 4 at Vespers, the greek community’s annual awards ceremony. Wade received the Order of Omega outstanding senior award, as well as the Live Your Values senior award.

“Both awards look back at what’s been accomplished at Iowa State, based on leadership, academics, greek community involvement and community service,” Wade said.

Several individuals Wade worked with personal believed she was more than qualified for the awards.

“Emily is completely on top of things, beyond that, ahead of things,” said Jay Newell, associate professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “As my teacher’s assistant, I see her work very well with students. She is sensitive to the needs of others. Emily is masterful at juggling many different things, especially with her courses, jobs and makes a good showing on public services.”

But Wade didn’t participate in leadership positions to get noticed.

“The more things you’re involved with, the more people you meet,” Wade said. “I think coming from Illinois to Iowa State, I wanted to meet as many people as possible and also to gain experiences.”

“From being so involved, you can learn a lot about yourself. From taking on the role of president [of Alpha Chi Omega], I learned how to stand up for myself and delegate. I have learned what I like and don’t like, and what I want to do with my life.”

Wade became involved on campus right away when she came to Iowa State. After going through formal recruitment and joining the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, she took on leadership roles within her chapter.

“At the very first chapter meeting there were open leadership positions and one of the upperclassman nominated me,” Wade said. “I said, sure, and it built from there. Then I was house manager and soon president.”

Wade also took on critical roles in the ISU Blood Drive. She has been on multiple committees, such as public relations and academics and became director her senior year.

Ashley Olberding, junior in apparel merchandising, design and production, has worked with Wade at the ISU Blood Drive and is also a member of Alpha Chi Omega.

“Emily has inspired me to get involved and push to experience new things,” Olberding said. “She is always honest and is one of the nicest people I’ve met. She is truly one of my biggest role models.”

Next to being a role model for her peers, Wade credits her success to her personal role models.

“The role models in my life is a combo. My parents have always pushed me to do sports, clubs, and get involved,” Wade said. “But the greek community as a whole pushes its members to get involved with clubs. I am influenced by the people around me.”

From her leadership roles, Wade learned many important lessons that anyone can learn from.

“Once you take on a leadership role, it builds and makes you take on a bigger role,” Wade said. “It doesn’t matter how little you start, it will build up to something big. Start as soon as you can.”

People who work directly with Wade can attest that it’s her work ethic and attitude that make it easy to work with her.

“People like seeing her around, and she is not capable of being in a bad mood,” Newell said. “Emily is always positive and as a result, more things happen.”

But the person most impressed with her achievement is Wade.

“I’m kind of amazed with how far I’ve come,” she said. “With anything I do, I like to have fun with it. I don’t take on too much because it’s stressful, and when activities are no longer fun, it’s easy to stop caring. The best way to exceed in a leadership role is to care about it.”