PAUL LENON

President of Define American 2019

Paul Lenon is the sitting President of Define American and former Co-President alongside Michael Rinaldi. He is a Philippine born immigrant who came to the United States in 2003. He’s enrolled at MSOE as a mechanical engineer and eventually wants to get another degree in creative writing. As one of the founders of Define American at MSOE he helped the chapter acclaim organizational status and become fully recognized by the school. He’s had prior leadership roles prior to Define American through FIRST Robotics and teaching at libraries, however, none ever as prominent as being a Co-President of a group. The biggest obstacle that was faced this year from working with Define American was the uncomfortableness which came with directing others. Through the course of the three semesters this was something that was improved upon significantly. The work has to be done and it’s important that people within a team cooperate for their fair share. The team began to fall into their respective roles quickly during the third trimester and Paul took a more visible leading role by directing the meetings more frequently. Along with being Co-President during the 2018-2019 school year he also took upon the secretarial role as that’s what’s most natural to him.

“Starting a club at a school is a large task but it’s not necessarily impossible. It can be disheartening when you don’t get to see the feedback you may have been hoping for but that can’t stop you. If you believe in your mission and your cause then odds are there’s someone out there who shares the same opinion and you just got to work with them and grew the community you want. Define American MSOE this year really only had three consistent members show up to our meetings besides the E-Board but even with that, I’d count it as a win. We were able to give others a community that wasn’t present at MSOE yet and I’m glad we were able to do that.”