Blog #1

1. What does leadership mean to you?

• To me leadership is the act of leading others whether its leading by example or through their actions. Leadership is not about having a title but more of what is done to gain that title that makes others look up to you. To be a leader a person needs to consider their personal identity, what they see as important, how can they better influence others, and the impact they want to leave behind.   

2. Reflect on the Student Leadership Institute Guiding Questions: How was it? What did you think? Did you learn anything new? How can you apply what you learned to your own leadership style and experiences?

• The SLI 2014 Conference theme this year was titled "Agents for Change" and was a fantastic way to network with others in one setting. I thought the session about "Who Am I?" was very interesting and reassured the importance of listening thinking and then speaking. I learned that when listening to another person speak if you actually take the time to think about what they are saying and attempt to understand where they're coming from helps with being a good listener. I can apply this new method of listening to understand others even if they are different from me or disagree with my thoughts and opinions. Sometimes it is best to be quiet and just listen to what others have to say often times it can change your way of thinking and opinions on topics. I plan to think twice before I am quick to judge and speak out my opinions just as the quote says "Be quick to listen and slow to speak" this can change so much about a person. A quote that I took from the conference that I will apply to STARS Lead is "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." 

3. What do you hope to gain from being in STARS LEAD? 

• Being in STARS Lead I hope this mentoring program will allow me to improve my leadership skills, and show myself as a role model to the students. My hope is to form a personal bond with the students that I will be mentoring, where I can become an outlet and confidant. My ultimate goal is to encourage the students to grow educationally as well as mentally throughout this program and into their futures. I want my leadership skills to exemplify the attributes that will ignite and support this growing process.