A Provisional's Experience

Submitted by Elisabeth Bischofberger, Provisional Member

Since moving to Columbia after college, I knew that I wanted to be associated with an organization of women who performed meaningful activities together to give back to our community. It took a few years, but I finally joined the Junior League of Columbia. My provisional year has been a great experience on several levels -- meeting new women with diverse careers and life aspirations, learning about the organization as a whole and bonding as a provisional group.

What I like most about Junior League is that there is such a diverse group of women. Anyone who says "all Junior Leaguers are a like" could not be more wrong -- except that they all want to make a difference in our community. Why that attracted me as a provisional was because I liked knowing that I could make friends in my provisional group who were not just in the corporate world. That would be so boring! I could learn from new mothers, gain perspective from newly married women and talk about the business side of nonprofits with women who chose that type of career path. The perspective provided by these women different from me is very interesting and gives me a new way of thinking about how we will work together for one common goal. I really enjoyed working community and fundraising shifts where we got the opportunity to do a task with women we had never met before, all with the bigger picture in mind to raise money or provide services to our partners in the community.

I love a well-run meeting. I define "well run" as a) organized; b) timely (less than an hour); and c) interesting and insightful. The general membership meetings were great as a provisional because I learned more about different committees and what responsibilities they served in the League. Not only did I learn more about our internal structure of the JLC, but also how much our work impacts those we give money and services to in the Columbia area. Hearing from Sherry and her guide dog, Roberta, at a General Membership Meeting made me want to serve on the committee that grants the money to give to different organizations. How heartfelt!

Most importantly, you can't retain members if there is no "stickiness" that holds them together. I was fortunate enough to meet a handful of women in my provisional class and become much closer friends with them over the course of our year together. Whether it is working JLC shifts, exercising or even attending community benefits together, it's great to have new friends who share similar passions. Several of us are looking forward to making decisions on our placements for years to come. One year down, many more ahead!