Ally Daskalopoulos, Staff Writer
Currently, Illinois Wesleyan University has a campus population of 1,893 enrolled students. These students form a campus of leaders and motivated students from all over the world.
Each student has something unique to offer to the IWU community while adding diversity and a multitude of passion to the Wesleyan bubble we call home for the next four years.
One of these students is Lauren Ajack, a devoted leader, student and sorority woman. A senior business marketing major and economics minor, Ajack has invested herself in everything Wesleyan has to offer.
This year Ajack is president of the Panhellenic Council. As a member of Alpha Gamma Delta women’s fraternity, Ajack has held various leadership positions within AGD, but has always been a part of Panhellenic.
“My favorite part about being on Panhellenic is being able to work with women in every chapter rather than just my own,” she said. “You get to see how the Greek Life system really works because there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.
“Someone has to take care of planning the events you see on campus, deal with the ridicules of Greek life in a negative light and work with the faculty. I really enjoy being a part in all of it,” Ajack said.
Greek life has been an important part of Ajack’s life. Having been chosen as Sorority Woman of the Year for 2015, Ajack is often frustrated with the negative connotations associated with Greek life.
“Greek life receives a negative image from the media because they only acknowledge us when a negative event occurs. They never highlight that nationally we raise over $7 million for our designated philanthropies,” she said.
“Every United States President but two since the start of Greek life have been in a fraternity and 85 percent of Fortune 500 Executives were in Greek Life. In order to be President or an Executive of any company you can’t be unintelligent. I think that people opposed to Greek Life haven’t tried sitting down with a Greek life member and getting to know them because they always have the worst accusations.”
Ajack is also passionate about on campus academic events and volunteers at the community cancer center in Normal.
Her campus involvement, along with all the excellent programs IWU has to offer, has put Ajack at an advantage once she graduates.
Along with all her extracurricular accomplishments, Ajack also completed a half marathon this semester.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Ajack and ask her about her plans for the future and a few fun facts.
Plans after graduation?
Ajack: My plans are to work at a market research firm as a market analyst.
Tell us some interesting things that we absolutely have to know.
A: I am from Wisconsin, went cliff jumping this summer, deer really scare me, I have never left the country, my favorite place I have visited so far is Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah, I have ridden an elephant and I used to have three pet turtles that I caught at Turtle Creek.
How did you discover Wesleyan?
A: Visited 17 schools in the Midwest and of all of them this one seemed to fit the best. It fit every criteria that I had on my list some of which included size, extracurriculars, and excellent academic programs.
What are you going to miss most when you graduate?
A: I will miss the ease of always being able to hang out with friends and how easy it is to communicate with people. You can walk across campus and see just about everyone but after graduation communication gets harder because everyone isn’t on the same schedule anymore. The people who you are the closest with will disperse around the country or even the world.
What is one piece of advice you would give underclassmen?
A: Don’t take any day, minute or even second for granted because although it is cliché to say these four years will go by faster than you will ever imagine. I can remember moving into Munsell and meeting my roommate and soon to be best friends like it was yesterday and now we are planning our futures together in what seems like a blink of an eye. Also take advantage of all the programs that we have on our campus because we are lucky to have such a variety. Being from out of state, I can’t go home on the weekends so I have had many opportunities to experience these events.