Alyssa Laidler

Leading the way

Alyssa came to Olivet when her sister came for freshman orientation. She was welcomed to the campus, even though she was not a perspective student at the time and had been looking to attend Michigan State. This wonderful treatment, combined with the desire for attending a Christian university, made her decide to take a tour and reach out to some of the professors. She knew this was the place for her. After high school graduation she would attend Olivet Nazarene University (ONU). Being easily influenced at this point in her life, attending a Christian university was the best choice.

Being a hard charger that she is, she has lots of responsibilities and jobs. She is currently the Agency Director for the Inspired Strategies Agency ’20-’21 (ISA). She works alongside Susan Wolff and Haley Foster. She oversees the team relations and ensures they are running smoothly and are communicating properly. As the leader of the Monday meetings, she is responsible for creating the agenda and leading the meeting and serves as a student mentor to her fellow students.

Starting out in the ISA when she was a Junior, her skills and training aided in the advancement from learning to be a leader, to leading an entire class. Alyssa has had to humble herself and step into the shoes of her classmates. That is a huge step for anybody to take in their life in such a short time. Crises management is something few wish to do, yet she stepped up and placed herself into this role.

Alyssa has been able to see the skills and potentials that she already had in coming to Olivet. Her confidence level has been boosted through the affirmation that she gets from both her professors and students. Even though she is a student herself, she has the role of being a teacher and mentor to other students within the ISA. This is a big responsibility that one must show confidence and ability to be trusted to carry out, while still doing the normal school work.

For fun she likes to do yoga. This allows her to stretch out, relax and go to a place of mental relaxation. Being a student is hard work, it’s even tougher when you take on extra roles.

Tea time with her roommates makes for a nice relaxing time. They can sit back and enjoy a nice quite evening. She does a lot of spontaneous things like, searching out cafes, and seeing her nephew. Basically, she likes to keep it simple. After all the crazy and complex tasks, she has dealt with throughout the week, that makes perfect sense.

She has gone to Paris twice and London once. A trip to Haiti getting cancelled led her and three others to going to Paris. No sense losing money when you can take the credit from the airline and use it to go to somewhere else.

From making lots of friends, expanding her knowledge, to growing her network, ONU has really impacted her life in a very positive, nurturing way. As some advice to the young females that are searching out their own career path, do not listen to what others are trying to tell you what you should be, listen to the ones that are telling you to do what God has called you to be.