Accepted into the Student Advisory Council, but now unsure

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Since i want to add a lot of Extra Curricular stuff on my CV i have been applying to various things.

I got accepted as the representative of students with disabilities for my Uni's student Advisory Council, which means i am supposed to address my cohort's concerns and try to improve anything for them throughout Uni.....But now i am having doubts. I want my opinions from my fellow AS folk

Pros
I do Law/Politics as a degree, it would be great for my CV
It MAY build my communication skills and help me get stronger in terms of anxiety
The adviser knows of my AS and has told me to approach him if i have any issues.

Cons
As just mentioned, i suffer from extreme anxiety, and have been warned it does get 'heated' in discussion with other members of the council
It is a one year commitment, am i ready for that?
Will it be too overwhelming for me on top of my studies? I am unsure how many hours a week i am supposed to commit to this.

What would yall do in this position? Is this a good position for someone with AS?

Congratulations on your acceptance.



These are all excellent reasons to join the council. I particularly like the fact that you are the rep for students with disabilities and that your adviser knows of your AS and has told you to approach him if you have any issues.



Remember that your adviser has asked that you approach him if you run into any problems.

I understand that you suffer from extreme anxiety ... but if you allowed your anxiety to dictate your actions, you'd stay in bed all day with the covers thrown over your head. This is no way to live.

Part of what may be driving your anxiety is your uncertainty regarding what this experience will be like. Again, if you allow your anxiety to dictate your course of action, how will you experience and overcome life's challenges?

I understand that you're concerned about overextending yourself but consider this a practical exercise in your ability to multitask and to prioritize.

One of the hardest things I had to do after graduating from college and getting a job was how to differentiate between things I needed to do and things I wanted to do. I also had to learn how to prioritize.

Work has an unfortunate tendency to take up inordinate amounts of time. You can keep yourself from being overwhelmed if you differentiate between your needs and wants. After identifying your needs, prioritize them. I like thinking of my needs as projects and I assign each project a time frame during which I will work to complete a given task. I always work on the higher priority tasks first. Not only does completing these "must do" projects make me feel good but completing them also reduces some of my stress because I don't feel as though I'm being overwhelmed.

Developing a good sense of priorities coupled with time management is an important life skill.

If you allow your anxiety to cast doubts on your ability to serve on the advisory council, you will be doing yourself a tremendous disservice. You will also lose credibility in the eyes of all the people who helped get you into this position.



What would I do? I'm a reclusive introvert. It is not in my nature to join advisory councils ... but what I would do is irrelevant. It's what you will do that matters.

In terms of whether this is a good position for someone with AS ... I can't really say. We are after all talking about the autistic spectrum and everyone on the spectrum is a bit different with varying ability levels, interests, and skill sets.

This is your challenge. This is your mountain to climb. Do you have the ability to multi-task?

One of my favorite movies is Full Metal Jacket which follows a platoon of marines through their training at boot camp. My favorite scene is when Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) confronts Pvt. Joker (Matthew Modine) with the words, "SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE!"


The private yells, "ARGGHH!" and the drill sergeant growls, "BS ... YOU DIDN'T CONVINCE ME. NOW SHOW ME YOUR REAL WAR FACE!"

So in the words of the late R. Lee Ermey, "SHOW ME YOUR REAL WAR FACE!"