Georgia State Organization, Greatest MINDS Society, is breaking down social boundaries by promoting cultural exchange and equality. The campus-based involvement group works within the community through volunteering, mentoring and participation in the hopes to improve people’s lives.
The newly chartered organization currently has about 80 members that are encouraged to participate in some aspect of the campus based society.
On Tuesday and Thursday, ambassadors can been seen in the Library Plaza informing students about the organization and schedules for events and meetings. Vice President, Drew Reid, enjoys incorporating the values of the organization into service projects and outreach programs for the community.
The Greatest MINDS Society is currently organizing an outreach program that will be set up near Hurt Park, to provide assistance and resources for homeless people in the community. Reid discusses about the mission of Greatest MINDS.
Q: As an organization, what are your values and how is that applied to Greatest MINDS mission?
Reid: We are based on three principles, volunteering, mentoring and participation. We try to collaborate with other organizations. There [are] general things that you can do as an average person, but having a group of people to do that with you is a positive. That’s the thing we try to represent in our community.
Q: Are you working on any new projects on campus?
Reid: Every year we try to have an initiative, or goal that we try to set. The reason why we are active on campus this year is because we set a goal this year: we wanted to make sure that people knew a lot about our organization.
Q: How is your organization breaking down social barriers within the community?
Reid: Greatest minds come from all walks of life, and everything is not going to be all black or all white. So we try to make sure that everything we have is an open discussion. Even though you might not be from this walk of life, you might be able to speak on your particular walk of life to people who know nothing about where you are from, what you do and what you like.
Q: What is the importance of promoting cultural exchange?
Reid:Our organization exists for the fact that we promote values and cultural exchanges to people, you might not agree on what one person says. We exist in order to identify cultural awareness. Ultimately, just improving communication amongst our own community at Georgia State and Atlanta.
Q: In what ways do the members participate in spreading the word about Greatest MINDS?
Reid: We have people that might send you an email or people that actually post up flyers. We all have committees that we work on so people can find something they’re interested in. We try to incorporate each person’s career path, and we try to incorporate that into our organization values and participation.
Q: Are there any upcoming events hosted by Greatest MINDS Society?
Reid: Our next event that we will have is Hurt Park. We are going to make sure that we assist the homeless people in their day to day lives. By doing that, if we can get [them] something to eat, or if we could get [them] some refreshments, that’s amazing. It’s not even about the recognition, just making sure people have that availability are able to do stuff like that.
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Vox
James Roberson, is an ambassador and member of Greatest MINDS. Roberson recently transferred from Georgia Military College. He got involved to meet new people and watched the organization flourish.
“I ran into Drew, and they had a big sign that said Greatest MINDS, and basically you get in what you put out,” Roberson said. “Even though I’m just getting into the organization they treat me like I’ve been in it for years, because we work together.”
Chante, you really are a great writer. These are amazing questions! You should definitely look into having your own talk show! Best of luck