This is a summary of my experience in the Public Leadership program and my practicum.
3 Semester & Practicum Review
3 Semester Review:
Leadership, or the idea of it, has grown in nature to me over the past three semesters. What I mean by that is my understanding of leadership used to be very small-minded and restricted, but I now see it much more broadly through life and in almost every situation.
My leadership style has not changed much although it has developed and matured, becoming hopefully more effective. My strengths are my discipline, analytical skills, and futuristic outlook, and I use them accordingly. I am very much a consensus leader, listening to my peers, gaining an understanding of what the group needs, and finding the best solution to drive us in that direction.
One significant change occurred within LTC Feehan’s class. He taught in a nature that was much less philosophical than in other leadership classes I had taken. The bigger change was facilitated by my position as president of a fraternity. It was a much greater responsibility than I had anticipated and allowed me to put into practice many things I have been taught.
This document is especially important to me because it reflects how I currently view leadership in the broadest scope. It thoroughly displays how important it is to be moral in leadership, but importantly in life. Decision-making, the process, and the outcome have major impacts on one’s character and thus leadership potential.
As I mentioned previously, I am currently the president of a fraternity, a position that holds all the aspects of formal leadership and then some. An element of leadership I learned through the PL program and have used constantly is relationship building. Sigma Chi is one of the twenty-eight chapters within the Interfraternity Council, which is one of four councils on campus. There are a lot of people to work with and to do that effectively it is important to have healthy relationships.
Practicum Review:
For my practicum I participated in HESI 318G, Applied Contextual Leadership; Greek Presidents Class. The class is made up of all the IFC, PHA, MPC, and NPHA council chapter presidents of that year. The class’s purpose is to develop the leadership skills of the various chapter presidents specifically by exposing them to the current problems of the greek community. The class atmosphere fosters relationships between chapter presidents and councils which are vital to lead change within our community.
I learned a lot from this class, especially related to the harsh realities of Greek life from the greater world's perspective, but I would say the actual duty of being president has taught me much more. I have learned life lessons like time management, delegation, prioritizing, and fair judgment. I also learned, hands-on, about leadership, especially from a position where not everyone is inclined to listen. While being president may seem like formal leadership, in a fraternity it is not always so. It is difficult to get one hundred people together on the same idea or movement and have them all act as one. I believe learning to lead from this mixed formal/informal position is something that will help me the most moving forward.
I will be uploading reflections about a meeting with one of my executive board members. Malcolm is one of the members of our fraternity who has helped the most in my growth as a leader, student, and professional. Malcolm is our philanthropy chair and for our main event, he raised over $56,000. He maintains a 3.9 GPA and is going to work in Texas at a finance firm. Malcolm is a role model to me and many others, and in doing so he teaches us how to grow as men. He has taught me how to maintain order within a group, balance my time between the fraternity and school, and apply myself in the business realm.
Being in the formal leadership position of president is not the first, nor the last for me. Moving forward, there are so many takeaways from this position, much of which I have previously mentioned, that can be applied to my life or career moving forward. For example, I want to be a dentist which is going to require a lot of time management throughout dental school, a skill I have further developed through this practicum.
To complete the pre-dental pathway with a GPA above 3.5 and then apply to dental school.
Get into dental school, complete that then hopefully go into a specialty or start my own private practice.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NH_xHH6-0jLmvsU4P4ZzXBzMa0BBXIUbtC95P2hRRnw/edit?usp=sharing - Updated resume
Public leadership has taught me many things, and as it says in the name, most relate to leadership. But lucky for me and hopefully lucky for others I will meet, leadership is vital to success and relates to almost everything. Specifically, this course has taught me to apply my leadership skills in everyday life. Every situation needs someone to take charge, and I now feel very capable of doing that. Moving forward, I will take the leadership lessons I learned from class and be chapter president to better the community around me, pushing for social change. Looking toward dental school, PL has taught me skills like time management, clear communication, and decisiveness that will lead to my success.