Leadership lived: Junior leads new student organization while boosting school spirit at UIS

 
University of Illinois Springfield junior elementary education major Maddie Cullick admits she’s busy. She’s leading a new student organization, while cheering for the UIS Prairie Stars and working at the Cox Children’s Center on campus.

Cullick is the president of the Legion of Ladies, a student organization founded in spring 2017 and made up of about 40 female students. The organization is focused on empowering women, community service, friendship, bonding and leadership.

As president of Legion of Ladies, Cullick schedules meetings, coordinates events and serves as a mentor to many of the younger women in the organization.

“I’ve definitely learned how to be a positive role model to the people in the organization and I think it’s definitely helped prepare me, in general, about how to make decisions and how to be a good leader.”

As part of Legion of Ladies, Cullick helped organize and collect food for the Central Illinois Foodbank during Trick or Treat for Canned Goods. The team collected 6,000 pounds of food and won second place in the competition. The group has also planned or co-sponsored numerous social events on campus.

As a UIS cheerleader, Cullick is passionate about school spirit. She has been cheering since her freshman year at UIS and has found it to be a rewarding experience.

“It’s just been a great opportunity to get involved on campus,” she said.

Cullick is also the campus relations chair on the executive board of Dance Marathon, a student volunteer organization that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network. She is a member of the Capital Scholars Honors Program where she is a peer tutor and Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in the field of education, and Alpha Lambda Delta, a national academic honor society.

“UIS overall has taught me a lot about leadership. I’ve definitely learned how to become a leader because of UIS. I think it will definitely help me in the future, especially going into a teaching role.

Following graduation from UIS, Cullick plans to become a first grade teacher. She feels confident that the skills she’s learned at UIS will serve her well in the classroom.

“My UIS experience overall has been life changing,” she said. “I think it’s just been a very great experience and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better.”