Leadership Course Reflection

At the beginning of this course, I felt both excited, yet apprehensive about what was to come. Various discussions, and presentations seemed to intimidate me. However, despite my hesitation I understood that this course would help develop me into an effective leader and that is exactly what happened. Not only have I improved my skills, I also learned about defining leadership, and understood the importance of contributing out and inside of the classroom

A large strength of mine is self-assessment and as we learned the seven key leadership learning areas in class I constantly was aware of what I was a weakness or strength and what was improved during this course. Regarding my second journal entry, I named project design as the skill I feel

I was already familiar with my peers, yet this aspect of the course helped influence me deeply as everyone brought different things to the table. It was seeing how other members take a leadership position outside the classroom, whether that be during a feeder school visit, planned event, or volunteer project, that helped guide me along the right path. For example, it was Aaron Triguero's "second personality" he took on at Forest Glade that encouraged me to be more enthusiastic in leadership roles. Another individual that inspired me was George Karatzias. At the visit to Hetherington my group's assigned topic was on sports. During his portion of speaking time George mentioned baseball and how he had to take on a leadership role with Ardi Kelmendi and lead the team. Though I would expect this from Ardi: an involved student in various sports and student parliament; George's statement took me by surprise, as George is often quiet in class. Nonetheless I felt proud of what they were doing and realized that anyone can take on a leadership role outside the classroom, even me. Thus, the hesitance I felt towards taking a stand in situations slowly diminished and I felt that I didn't need to be outside of just "behind the scenes". Finally, the weekly "Friday discussions" supported my leadership development as I was able to make the most and learn through others' ideas and perspectives on important issues. I felt challenged when I needed to pick a side when strong arguments were made for both, especially when Jasmine tested the class with her hypothetical train situation. The trusting environment combined with a diversity of opinions, and popcorn, made for an eventful and relaxing Friday, however this part of the curriculum gave me the confidence to take part of more discussions in the future and beyond the classroom