Three Semester Review.
In this three semester review, I reflect on my academic and co-curricular experience that has been influenced by my experience in the Public Leadership Scholars Program.
My Leadership Perspective.
Before starting the Public Leadership program, I had a very basic idea of leadership. In high school, I was a leader of a few small clubs/organizations, but my experience was still limited. The courses I have taken in the last two years within the PL program have made a significant impact on what I think leadership is. I used to believe that leadership was just being able to control a group of people to complete a goal. However, I have learned that there is a lot more that goes into good leadership. Leadership is getting to know your followers, giving them motivation to work as a team, and providing purpose and direction. All of this goes into being able to accomplish a mission that will benefit the greater good. One who leads with all of this in mind is known as an effective leader. With this knowledge, I am able to think more critically when leading others and achieve success more efficiently.
My Leadership Style.
My PL experience has strongly influenced my leadership style. First semester, we took the CliftonStrengths test to find what our best interpersonal skills were. My top strength was Individualization, meaning I have the ability to find out each person’s strength in order to decipher the best way they would be able to contribute to complete a goal in a team setting. The next theme I am strong in is Communication. I find it easy to be able to communicate with others about what I am thinking and feeling in meaningful conversation. These skills show that I am successful in leading groups of people by distributing tasks effectively and communicating with each individual what needs to be done. This relates to the consensus leadership style I practice. By using a consensus style of leading, I take time to communicate with my followers and make sure their needs are met before pursuing a particular mission.
PL's Effect on my Life.
The skills I learned in PL have affected many aspects of my life. Currently, I have noticed the biggest difference in my leadership at work. During this past summer, once restaurants started opening back up, I went back to work as a server in College Park. Due to COVID-19, the work environment was nothing like it used to be. Before the COVID outbreak, we had over 20 servers; but when we opened back up, I was the only server willing to work. We were short staffed, open different hours, and under strict regulation. It was relatively under control until students started coming back in the fall and regulations started to lift. The restaurant got extremely busy very fast and it was out of control. Management frantically began hiring servers with little experience and struggled to be able to schedule enough staff per shift. Being the only one who had already been working there, I quickly jumped into a leadership position to facilitate the unorganization. I trained each new server and at the beginning of every shift I distributed responsibilities among the team. In addition, I helped out my managers whenever they needed it. If it were not for my skills gained in PL, I would not have had the confidence to take on such a difficult and stressful role. I was also able to realize that some of the decisions my managers chose under pressure did not concede with what I believe to be effective leadership. After learning about a variety of leadership styles and theories, I am now able to evaluate other leaders’ choices and can form opinions on them. As I examined some of the questionable actions that the management used, I have a better idea of how a leader should act from a follower’s perspective. This made me realize just how important it is to be a consensus leader who takes their subordinates’ thoughts into consideration and does what’s best for everyone, not just for the organization.
First Self Reflection
October 2019
October 2019
This first reflection from the beginning of freshman year gives an overview of my leadership experience at the time and what I thought I gained from each experience. I believe that this paper displays my understanding of leadership before I started the Public Leadership program. This is a good baseline to see how much I have grown in the past two years with PL.
First Semester Position Paper
October 2019
October 2019
The position paper I wrote in PLCY201 last year is a case analysis on whether guns should be allowed on college campuses or not. In this paper, I was able to address an issue and communicate my opinion on it using logical reasoning and credible evidence. In leadership, it is essential to address problems and be able to effectively communicate with others in order to find solutions. This paper demonstrates my ability to do just that.
Second Semester Reflection
May 2020
May 2020
In May 2020, my second semester at UMD, I took the class CPPL101. This paper is a reflection of what I learned thus far in the scholars’ program. I start the paper talking about the grant giving project we focused on during the course. Next, I explained what skills I gained from that specific class and then related them to my work in other courses. Lastly, I reflect on my leadership knowledge throughout my freshman year. This paper clearly marks my growth in my understanding of leadership after one year in the PL program.
Leadership Philosophy Paper
October 2020
October 2020
This last paper about my leadership philosophy from my third semester in the program really pulls together everything I have learned. In the paper, I describe my perspective of what an effective leader is by giving three essential skills a leader should possess and why. I thoroughly explain and give an example of a famous leader that displays each trait. It is evident in this paper that I have a more advanced idea of good leadership and I have improved in my writing skills as well.