Rockefeller Leadership Fellow: Meghana Mishra ’17

This series introduces the 2016-2017 Rockefeller Leadership Fellows. Each fellow reflects on why he or she wanted to be a part of the program and what aspects of leadership most interests them.

The Rockefeller Leadership Fellows Program represents an excellent way for Dartmouth students to improve their leadership skills for positions within the Dartmouth community and beyond. After participating in many Rockefeller Center leadership programs over the past three years, I hope to further hone my leadership abilities through this incredible opportunity to learn from leadership experts and engage in discussions with a talented group of like-minded peers.

The aspect of leadership that most interests me is team dynamics and the many different factors that influence team success. Understanding team engagement, creating effective channels of communication and interaction, and navigating conflicting individual motivations to achieve a group goal are three issues that I face on a daily basis on campus and will face in my future career.

As a VoxMasters Student Discussion Group facilitator, I’ve had the opportunity to continuously improve my leadership and teamwork skills. During VoxMasters, students are given the opportunity to speak extemporaneously on a variety of topics and receive feedback from peers. One example of leadership that stands out to me was advising a student who suffered extreme anxiety when public speaking. Within our supportive group of participants, I was able to facilitate a relaxed environment where the nervous individual felt comfortable practicing her speech, while still providing constructive feedback. This experience taught me the importance of empathy within a team, because teamwork is often stressful, and supporting one another is critical for success as a leader.

After graduating from Dartmouth, I hope to attend medical school and work in the fields of medicine and global health. In my future career as a doctor, I will likely work with teams of general practitioners, specialists, nurses, patients, and other communities in order to produce the best outcomes. Exploring issues of team dynamics and developing strong teamwork skills are crucial for each of these endeavors. The Rockefeller leadership Fellows program is affording me the opportunity to further explore these topics.

Meghana Mishra ’17 grew up in Maryland and graduated from Centennial High School. At Dartmouth, Meghana is pursuing a Philosophy modified with Biology major and an Economics minor. Meghana served as a student discussion group leader for VoxMasters for two years and is also a member of GlobeMed. She has worked for several terms as a researcher for the Rockefeller Center’s Policy Research Shop in addition to participating in multiple sclerosis research at the Geisel School of Medicine first as a Sophomore Science Scholar and then as a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar. In addition, she is currently serving on the Inclusive Excellence Student Working Group. After graduation, Meghana plans to attend medical school and hopes to work in the fields of medicine and global health.