First Runner-Up
Ti'eshia Daniels
University of Central Florida
Junior in Interpersonal Communications/Spanish
3.86 GPA
     From the moment she wakes up, Ti’eshia Daniels is inspired. "I collect quotes," says the University of Central Florida junior in interpersonal communications and Spanish. "I keep so many around my room and up above my bunk, so I see them when I wake up. They’re about character and the kind of leader I want to be."
     The 20-year-old Daniels serves as a senior resident assistant, a round-the-clock role in which she’s responsible for 50 residents, plus four other RAs. As soon as she arrived on campus, Daniels knew she wanted to be involved in residence life. "That was the first leadership position I saw," she says. "I liked the fact that RAs are trained in all things—CPR, mediation, programming." As part of her duties, Daniels creates 16 programs a year to educate, build community, and help students unwind. To help residents stick to their New Year’s resolutions, Daniels brought in a fitness instructor and made fruit shakes. She also stuffed brown bags with food for all-night study sessions during finals, and she set up baby pools and sprinklers on the lawn for recreation. One of Daniels’ favorite events was "Go Fish," a program to kick off the semester. Residents made collages representing their dreams, ate Goldfish crackers, and got a live goldfish for their rooms. "It was so when they feed the goldfish, they would remember that dreams are something they need to cultivate to keep them growing," she says.
     Daniels also is one of 22 UCF students who are members of the elite President’s Leadership Council, a group of ambassadors that attends luncheons and welcomes dignitaries to campus. "We like to say that wherever the president is called to be, so are we," she says. The select group is chosen based on GPA, recommendations, and an interview by a panel that includes the president’s wife. Karen Breakell, advisor for the President’s Leadership Council, calls Daniels "a great team player." "The PLC members are the best of the best, and she’s a star even in that group," Breakell says. "Ti’eshia is so genuine. Her approach is inspirational."
     As the reigning Miss Florida Achievement—a title awarded for leadership, volunteerism, scholastic achievement, and overcoming adversity—Daniels has worked with numerous local groups. She has logged hours with Orlando’s American Cancer Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the Boggy Creek Gang, a camp for children with illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV. She also serves as a mentor for a ninth grader as part of Compact, an organization that reaches youth with disciplinary or academic problems. On being a role model for others, Daniels says leaders really don’t have a choice. "I realize that on and off campus, other students are looking at me," says Daniels, who was second runner-up for the Miss American Achievement title last June. "It sometimes baffles me that others, especially younger generations, look to me and say, ‘That’s what I want to be or do.’ I do the things I do because they come naturally and it is an outpour of who I am. Recognizing that I am a role model to others keeps me accountable to my attitude, my actions, and my ambitions."
     Through Heart of America, a national nonprofit group that promotes volunteerism, Daniels has gotten a head start on her career goal of becoming an international motivational speaker. When she addressed youth in "Take Stock in Children," a program for students from low-income households who have high GPAs and no disciplinary history, Daniels arrived dressed in army fatigues to help guide her soldiers through "life’s battlefield" with an adaptation of the Soldiers Tips for Survival. "I am confident that the fruit of those presentations will be seen in years to come, with the success of Central Florida’s students attending colleges in Florida, some with full scholarships," Daniels says.
     Heart of America Executive Director Angela Halamandaris observed Daniels’ style when the group visited students in schools surrounding Columbine High. "She was very involved in the event we did in Colorado," Halamandaris says. "We brought in 50 youth ambassadors and went into schools with a message of volunteerism. I can’t tell how many kids she reached—about 10,000 in that one day herself. She has a tremendous amount of passion and enthusiasm that is infectious. She’s always looking for things to do to improve other people’s lives."
     The Heart of America organization also has given Daniels an outlet to do what she loves most—helping people discover their passion and identify their life goals. "I very much desire for everybody I come into contact with to have a life mission statement. I once heard a speaker say, ‘You wouldn’t take a trip and read the road map after you reach your destination.’ I talk to students about the bigger picture. I have a worksheet for people so they can plug in adjectives and start thinking about their goals." Daniels says her statement is: "With passion and a contagious joy, I will uphold the spirit of an overcomer, while being a leader yet a servant, achieving success through vision and sacrifice."
     Among her other activities, Daniels is a representative on the Student Conduct Board, a member of Golden Key International Honor Society, and the promotions and special events coordinator for the local American Diabetes Association. Daniels also won $5,500 representing UCF in the Hollywood Squares collegiate tournament, and she has earned more than $50,000 in scholarships to pay her way through school. "One of my friends recently asked my mom if I was born with a scholarship coming out of the womb."
     In the community, Daniels has accumulated more than 3,200 hours of community service since 1995, some of which was completed on mission trips to Bolivia, Spain, Gibraltar, and Mexico. About three times each year, Daniels travels to the Dominican Republic to visit the inhabitants and bring them supplies. "I learn about the struggles of other people in different cultures," Daniels says. "Every time I travel, we never stay in the hotels. We live in the villages and stay there for months at a time, so you can’t help but get to know the people. When I come back, I can say that I really know the culture—it’s not just like we saw the monuments.
     "I have more of a servant leadership style. I will never ask a group of leaders to do anything I’m not willing to do," says Daniels, recalling an experience on a service trip with Teen Mania. "When we were in Spain, one of our projects was to do bathroom duty, and I was responsible for assigning it. I made sure I was the first one to do it, because they wouldn’t respect somebody who said, ‘Go clean the bathrooms.’"
     While her mom remains her "number-one" influence, Daniels takes the opportunity to learn something from nearly everyone she encounters. "Everybody has a story," she says. "The people I see in passing, I treat them that way. They have something for my life—the janitors, the housekeepers for my building. I stop and talk to them. I know them by name."
     Early in her college career, Daniels learned how to manage her time using a "big, fat color-coded planner." "I split up a 24-hour day into three eight-hour segments: eight hours for sleeping, eight for schoolwork, and eight for whatever I want," she says. "Sometimes I vary the school and the free time, but it’s always very balanced. There’s nothing good about a leader who’s totally run down and not rested." During her "spare" time, Daniels is writing a book about resilience and has collected submissions from people all over the nation. "I also enjoy volunteering and learning new languages when I have downtime," she says.
     To motivate members, Daniels spreads out responsibilities to help others take ownership in the group. "If members really believe in an organization or in the leadership style of the person running it, then they’re going to be self-motivated, which is the best kind," she says. "But if they need to be motivated, then I usually work on incentives or bringing them into the leadership board. In some organizations, I’ll make everybody a leader, and then we do things as a team. People realize that we couldn’t accomplish anything without each other, so there is a high accountability."
Contact Daniels at sillygoose37@hotmail.com.

 
First Runner Up Ti'eshia Daniels of the University of Central Florida accepts her plaque presented by Florida Leader publisher Butch Oxendine.