My name is Markus Flynn and I am the president of the Black Graduate Student Association, I am one of the board of directors for United Way of Story County, and I advise two undergraduate student organizations.

I’ve been at Iowa State for 6 years now and over the course of that time I’ve had an opportunity to develop tremendously both personally and as a leader.

I believe that passion is one of the most powerful and compelling motivating forces. The reason that I do what I do is because of my passion for community level impact and youth development.

With passion as a driving force, the work that I do doesn’t feel like work, it doesn’t feel burdensome, it feels fulfilling. I genuinely get excited to do the work that I do, it feeds who I am and I feel as though I need to do it in order to be content.

I was introduced to leadership slowly. I started by mentoring a younger student through a formal mentorship program in the college of Human Sciences.

From there I joined a few clubs and then progressively worked my way up the student organization leadership tree until I became the president of the Black Student Alliance (BSA). Working with BSA was a transformational experience for me. It changed how I navigated campus, it changed how I viewed my career aspirations, and it developed me into the person I am today. I can confidently say that BSA gave me far more than I ever contributed to it.

It wasn’t until I became president that my passion started to become clear. I always cared about community level initiatives, but once I got to be president, and had greater access and more of an ability to impact the community, I fell in love.

Simultaneously I realized how much I enjoyed leadership. Being in a leadership positions affords you the platform to set an organization’s trajectory, as well as encourage and inspire people. You’re able to motivate a group to work towards a collective vision in order to see the impact that you are so passionate about.

If I could give a general piece of advice to any student at this campus it would be to find your passion. True and authentic passion is palpable. If you are a leader use that passion when you lead.

Passionate people are magnetic, they draw in people with similar passions and they can also unveil passion in people who were not originally aware of their own. Passion is also one of greatest motivators, when you lead with passion as your guide it will eventually start to rub off on others and make them as energetic as you are.

The reason I so strongly recommend finding your passion is because I truly believe that at the intersection of your passions and your talents is where your purpose lies. I don’t know about you, but I am in pursuit of my purpose.

I am more than your stereotype.