Student Leadership Philosophy: Moving In The Spirit

As expected, almost every Gateway Academy student complained about the length of our previous summer reading assignments. In an attempt to appease the masses, this summer we were given Teen Leadership Revolution: How Ordinary Teens Become Extraordinary Leaders by Tom Thelen. Through fourteen chapters Thelen discusses fourteen topics ranging from bullying to self-discipline to honesty. These chapters paired with their respective questions promised to help teens “navigate the storms of life and become great leaders”. While this book was, as promised, shorter than previous assignments, it was also irrelevant, poorly written, and not appropriate for readers my age.

This semester, we learned specific ways to build our leadership capabilities by reading “How Remarkable Women Lead” by Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, researching Boston women leaders, interviewing a present day woman leader, and reading a group book. Throughout all of these resources and research, common themes of how to be a successful leader emerged. Not only did I learn more about leadership in general, but I also found ways to improve my own leadership without going too much out of my comfort zone. The important lessons of leading with perseverance, framing, and an activist's mindset thoroughly influenced my identity as a leader and gave me new tactics to grow as a person.

In the schools and also the community we need more leaders. Being a freshman of Lower Richland High school, I want to see students demonstrating more leadership. Often, I see student afraid to say no to peer pressure from other students. I want to see students leading by example. We need more leaders in this community, and less followers. In this essay I will discuss characteristic that describe a good leader, and what I want to see change in my community. .

Throughout this entire course we have learned many concepts and strategies to synthesize and use leadership as a means of working in a group setting. These concepts allowed us to learn not only how to lead other

In June of 2015, I attended the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar – North Florida – at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. The four days I spent at that seminar were some of the most defining moments of my adolescent life. The Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar, or HOBY, provides an opportunity for youth leaders to build their leadership skills in an open and accepting environment while tackling taboo topics such as climate change, terrorism, pollution, and racial profiling. The seminar is the reason why I have taken up such a distinct passion for youth leadership as well as the belief that leadership development in our youth is one of the most important of the diverse methods to building a brighter future. Therefore, for my service project I helped put together the 2016 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar at Florida State University and served on staff to ensure the same opportunity that I had just a year ago was provided to the new ambassadors. This 2016 HOBY seminar spanned from Wednesday, June 1st, 2016 to Sunday, June 5th, 2016 – well surpassing the time requirement for this service project.

Leadership is a difficult quality to obtain as a teenager. It takes many years to build up the courage to pull away from the crowd and walk as one person, not just part of the group. However, I am able to work as part of a team. As a senior at the Little Falls Community High School, I have strived to be my own person instead of being another person in the crowd.

When confronted with failure, we can give up or stand up. This choice can go all the way back to the playground. That first leap for the monkey bars more often than not ends with a face full of wood chips. At that moment, one must choose to dust themselves off and try again, or to wait for mom and dad to save them. As a freshman, I didn’t fail because I never ”leaped for the monkey bars.” My feet were planted safely on the ground, so I never took any risks. Being guarded meant I would never fail, which really meant that I would never grow. Luckily, I got involved with student leadership. My feet loosened from the ground and my character started to grow. I decided to apply to become a Colorado State Student Leader Repressive at the end of my freshman year. At that

Introduction: Years of commitment, dedication and serving the military with honor has paid off, and brought me to the threshold of Loyola University Chicago. For eight years I served as a Staff Sargent in the United States Air Force, but I began to desire more. I saw everything I had done thus far as a prequel to my next career goal. I was taught to be a leader in a place where a split second decision could change lives. Loyola’s focus on making students responsible leaders will strengthen the tools already in my toolbox.

If the world was a piece of sheet music, I would be the time signature. I would be the source of consistency to bring an entire population of people become of one accord. I make a difference on my team and in my community by being the pulse of the environment I'm in. This impact is embodied in my love for building and teaching.

In high school I was always the student going “above and beyond” everyone else. In many situations I would take the initiative to “super head” projects and make sure the task given was being done the correct way. At the high school I attended there were not many students like myself. Other students were focused on being in the “in crowd”, this left me feeling alone and not having anyone to relate to. When I stepped foot on Hampton University’s campus and saw the Student Leaders during New Student Orientation Week, I immediately knew that I wanted to be apart of the organization. Within the students I saw qualities that I also embodied, I also saw a group of hardworking students who are ready to succeed and take on the world. If I was accepted into The Greer Dawson Wilson Student Leadership Training Program (SLP), I would automatically grow as a person. I have already grown during SLP week, by learning that it is okay to come out of out of my comfort zone. Being apart of the Student Leadership Program would help me strengthen the leadership skills that I already

“We have come to far, we have sacrificed too much, to disdain the future now.” John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Kennedy looked at the country’s future and served with America 's future in mind. America 's government and history are two things youngsters need to educate themselves about, in order to go deeper into the truth and lead our country, because history tends to repeat itself, government officials could be more diverse, and student polls show how little they really know.

At this conference we learned better leadership skills, as well as how powerful we can be. A breakthrough session taught us that anything we set our mind to can be done. Never have I before broken a board in half with the palm of my hand. But within thirty minutes of this session I was defying the odds. The speaker related this concept back to student leadership. Whatever our goals may be for the year, we can do if we set our mind to accomplishing them. At the conference we set our goals for the year and started planning the greatness that was ahead of

My leadership adventure began during my sophomore year of high school. I awoke one morning to my bedroom full of people cheering and yelling. In my sleepy state, I wondered what was going on. Then, I began to recognize the members of the Downers Grove North J.Kyle Braid club. “Congrats, Lauren! You are going to the ranch!” I was chosen to attend the leadership ranch in Colorado. J.Kyle Braid, a club with the mission to develop athletes into strong leaders, selected two girls and two boys to attend this leadership camp from Downers Grove North each year. My mission was to learn, develop, and strengthen my leadership skills and bring those skills back to my school. I kept hearing how it would

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, “80.1% of employers are looking for people with leadership skills, 78.9% for the ability to work in a team and 70.2% for written communication skills.” Other important skills included, “technical, initiative, analytical/quantitative, and flexibility/adaptability.” Leadership skills are only acquired by a low percentage of students in high school and most students lack the proper verbal and written communication skills to be successful. While it is hard to teach these skills, students could be placed in certain situations, out of their comfort zone, to help develop their skills. Part of the reason these skills are not being taught is because the teachers do not have motivation or resources necessary to help students develop important

Through StuCo, I was given many opportunities to attend various leadership programs, the most noteworthy being the BASIC Leadership Workshop sponsored by the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils. At BASIC, I learned how to be the most efficient leader I could be through performing group tasks and solving problematic situations, including creating a hypothetical school with its own song and chant and addressing the struggles of student involvement in the form of a skit. I was trained to apply the concept of consensus to group decision-making by listening to and considering everyone’s ideas and reaching a solution through discussion. I was introduced to new ways to promote school spirit and unity within my own school through pep rally activities, class competitions, and service projects. I was also taught skills for success in life, such as setting goals, dealing with obstacles, and staying motivated. It was an unforgettable week full of friendships, positivity, and self-improvement—one of the best weeks of my