{"379081":{"#nid":"379081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Alumni Spotlight: Parker Vascik","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThough it\u2019s still a fairly new addition to the academic programs offered by Georgia Tech, the Minor in Leadership Studies has seen its fair share of student success stories since its start in 2010.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParker Vascik (AE \u201914), one of the first students to join the Minor in Leadership Studies, heard about the then-new minor during his sophomore year. Though at the time he was working hard on building his career path in the field of aerospace engineering, he knew immediately that the Minor in Leadership Studies was the supplement to his academic career that would allow him to pursue a vision of \u201cengineering leadership.\u201d In a recent talk, Vascik explained, \u201cI knew from looking at my skills set I was talented in engineering, sciences, and math, so I could be a good engineer. But I was really good at communicating and inspiring other people\u2026the leadership minor was the way I could fuse these two worlds and match my skill set with what I really want to do.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParker resonates the sentiments of many students who join the Minor in Leadership Studies and their reasons for venturing outside a student\u2019s typical major coursework. Perhaps the most compelling reason Parker considered was that \u201cif you put a bunch of really intelligent people in one room, you don\u2019t necessarily make the best product. There\u2019s another aspect to it than just a technical solution\u2026it\u2019s really \u2018engineering leadership\u2019 that solves that problem of working with these people to overcome their interests in the design as well as other factors that are exogenous to your design problem.\u201d In a world where working in diverse, cross-functional teams is becoming increasingly common, sharpening one\u2019s leadership skills in order to do well in those teams is of great importance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, career-minded skills and lessons were not the only things Parker gained through the Minor in Leadership Studies. He was also affected on a more interpersonal level, saying \u201ceverybody has a certain way of looking at problems and how to solve those problems\u2026by working with business majors and other engineers that are interested in leadership I really got so many new perspectives, a variety of thought, and a way of seeing problems that was different from the aerospace engineering atmosphere.\u201d Among the Georgia Tech leadership education community, students, faculty and staff agree that this diversified perspective and approach to problem solving is one of the core values in our programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuccess in Georgia Tech\u2019s leadership programs, such as Parker\u2019s and many others\u2019, have spurred a heightened sense of importance for developing students\u2019 leadership skills, and the compelling gains made by students have made it possible for the school to continue to build upon and improve the quality of our programs. If Parker\u2019s story speaks to you and you are ready to begin your journey in leadership development, we encourage you to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/leadership.gatech.edu\/plugins\/forms\/index.php?id=4\u0022\u003Eapply\u003C\/a\u003E for the Minor in Leadership Studies today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/leadership.gatech.edu\/content\/105\/minor-in-leadership-studies\u0022\u003EFind out more about the Minor in Leadership Studies\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAttend an Information Session (registration required)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/leadership-minor-information-session-1-clough-125-tickets-15499436231\u0022\u003ETuesday, February 24, 2015 11am-12pm in CULC 125\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/leadership-minor-information-session-2-tickets-15499485378\u0022\u003EFriday, February 27, 2015 11am-12pm in CULC 125\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"How the Leadership Minor Can Diversify Your Perspective and Approach to Problem Solving"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIn a world where working in diverse, cross-functional teams is becoming increasingly common, sharpening one\u2019s leadership skills in order to do well in those teams is of great importance.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"How the Leadership Minor Can Diversify Your Perspective and Approach to Problem Solving"}],"uid":"27965","created_gmt":"2015-02-17 15:43:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:38","author":"Stacey Doremus","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-02-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-02-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"379311":{"id":"379311","type":"image","title":"Parker Vascik","body":null,"created":"1449246214","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:23:34","changed":"1475894388","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:48","alt":"Parker Vascik","file":{"fid":"75239","name":"parker_web_feature.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/parker_web_feature.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/parker_web_feature.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":114340,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/parker_web_feature.jpg?itok=3zEdSpRS"}}},"media_ids":["379311"],"groups":[{"id":"269161","name":"Leadership Education and Development"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"102251","name":"Leadership Minor"},{"id":"12724","name":"Minor in Leadership Studies"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stacey.doremus@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Estacey.doremus@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stacey.doremus@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}