El liderazgo entre idiomas (Leadership Between Languages)

As I previously addressed leadership and how it relates to my sociology degree, it is only fair that I also introduce my experiences in leadership within my Spanish degree as well. Luckily, I have been blessed with various opportunities to practice Spanish while getting to know others. While part of the Spanish major is learning various aspects of the language, another focus is learning about cultures that influenced the language. For instance, in my first year at Wartburg, me and my fellow classmates traveled to Costa Rica to not only practice our Spanish, but to also learn about the culture of the ticos (Costa Ricans) as part of our Hispanic Culture course. While learning about culture and history, I realized that studying Spanish would lead to future opportunities to learn more about culture and other people which encouraged me to keep on learning Spanish. Oddly enough, some of the most important lessons that I learned came outside of the traditional classroom. Not only did I grow in leadership through my Special Topics: Immigration class and my Venture Education: Argentina credit that I took abroad.

Just Like Us

 To finish off my sophomore year at Wartburg, I spent May Term in Denver, Colorado with nine other students majoring in Spanish as part of the Special Topics: Immigration course. Through that month, we all had internships that connected Spanish to our majors. I worked at Focus Points Family Resource Center in the Adult Education Department. We had a classes that focused on how Hispanic families interact and immigration issues in the United States. One of the books that we studied from that focused on immigration was called Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America. Helen Thorpe**, a journalist, was interested in the issues of immigration so she decided to follow four Mexican girls through their high school and college years and learn about adversity that they face in their lives; whether they were living in the United States legal or not.She then wrote about their stories; highlighting their triumphs as well as the numerous struggles they encountered. She brings to life the topic of immigration, an issue that is misunderstood. Her goal was not that people would take pity on the girls, but rather act in a way to try and promote change.

Thorpe, a fantastic journalist, mirrored leadership to me in many ways. For instance, she was a fearless fighter for what she believed in. I find the time, effort, and passion put forth by Thorpe indescribably incredible. She had to gain the trust of the people she was trying to represent. In an era where illegal immigrants are constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of deportation, she had to be sure to ensure the communities that she was entering that she was not a risk to them or their families. Instead, she was trying to share their stories with others so people could understand the loss of cultural identity and the struggles that these girls had preventing them from living normal lives.

 Additionally, when Thorpe entered the lives of the girls, she tried her best to fit herself into their lives rather than have them have to adapt to her needs. She understood that within her goals of trying to learn more about the lives of the Mexican immigrant girls, disrupting their lives as little as possible would help her get more genuine stories from the girls. The girls appreciated this effort by Thorpe and subsequently ended up trusting her and using her as a support system. Many times she would talk about how the girls would come to her for help, but she couldn't do anything because it would ruin her study. No matter what though, the fact that Thorpe was always there to listen was so helpful for the girls as their lives changed through high school and college. For instance, one of the girls, Marisela, wanted to go to college after finishing as valedictorian in her class but could not afford to go because she could not apply for scholarships or loans through the institution or government because her family came here illegally (Thorpe**). Marisela asked Thorpe for financial help and as much as Thorpe wanted to, she could not financially support her (Thorpe**). Although Thorpe, herself, could not contricute, she told Marisela where she could find resources so that she could be able to go to college (Thorpe**). She is always thinking of others instead of herself.

The lesson that I learn from Thorpe in this sense is the importance of always remembering who a service is being provided for. Service is a form of selflessness and being a leader, it is essential to realize that my wants and needs are not as important as those who I am helping. Sometimes I feel that people can get caught up their own lives that they forget that there are others around who are also struggling. People like to feel cared about, so whether a leader works in a group of peers or is volunteering in a certain community, it is important to remember to care for the people around and provide a sense of emotional support.

Most importantly, Thorpe was able to use her writing as a vehicle to inspire others. After reading the stories of the four girls she followed, I became increasingly more interested in immigration. Through her book she has tried to reach out to others and share about the social problems involved in the political issue of immigration. One afternoon Thorpe met with my class to share the inspiration behind her book. She talked about how she and her husband, John Hickenlooper (the mayor of Denver at the time) had used many workers who were immigrants. She interacted with them and got to know them and them became interested to explore more in depth and eventually share her findings with the world. A leader has the ability to paint mental pictures in the eyes of others of the change they want to see in the world. They are capable of doing this because they know what they want and have taken the time to understand the various perspectives of the issue. A leader would not be a leader without people to follow them so as a leader I have to remember that if I want people to follow what I believe, I need to make them see my perspective and be inspired by what I say.

LA VOLUNTAD

Undoubtedly, one of my most enlightening times in my life was when I took my Venture Education course by traveling and studying in Argentina for six months. Not only did I have the opportunity to practice Spanish, but I had the opportunity to learn more about the culture and the people. This experience was more than just a time to take classes but to explore. During my six months abroad, I took classes, played sports, and was a volunteer. Ultimately I was able to learn more about myself by challenging myself to try new experiences.

In terms of being a leader, part of my growth was through stepping outside of my comfort zone and intentionally reaching out to people. As an introvert, I usually wait for people to come to me. In the past, I have tended to stay around people I know rather than reaching out to others. However, when I was in Argentina, I knew nobody. Therefore, I had to create a life for myself. Rather than just spending time with students from around the United States, my goal was to get to know others from Argentina and around the world. I ended up joining various activities and organizations where I ended up making many Spanish-speaking friends from around Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela.

One organization in particular that I worked with was called Manos Abiertas*. Manos Abiertas, which means "open hands," is a Christian  organization that works throughout South America. Their mission is to serve, promote, a dignify those who need it most, bettering their quality of life while in situations of poverty and pain through volunteer work (Manos Abiertas*). Their vision is to love and serve others in through gestures greater than words (Manos Abiertas*). What I really liked about Manos Abiertas was their dedication to help others. More specifically, their vision to love and to serve reflects what a servant leader should be and what I hope to be. It was through Manos Abiertas that I really had to work on my comfort in getting to know others.

During my time with Manos Abiertas, I was part of a group called "Los Buscadores." This group went around the city of Córdoba and handed out food to the homeless. As we went from place to place around the city, there were some familiar faces of people who would come every week as well as some new faces. It was a personal goal of mine to meet the people we interacted with and get to know people as we traveled around.This was difficult for me because I become nervous when introducing myself to others. However, I realized that I would not understand what being homeless in Argentina really meant without taking the courage to talk to the people. There were many people who I then interacted with each week and recognized each time that I helped out with "Los Buscadores." What I ended up learning was that many of the people came from other countries and were trying to making a living for their family. Unfortunately, making a living was not as easy as they thought and they ended up working and living on the streets. The lesson that I learned was the importance to reach out to all people; no matter who they are. I learned more about the homeless by actually talking to people as I treated them as equals rather than someone who is below me. It is easier to relate to people if you treat them as equals. Sometimes it might seem easier to judge people based on how they look rather than getting to know them; but it isn't as rewarding as getting to know someone.

Like Thorpe, I wrote about my experiences with Manos Abiertas, but only in the form of a blog. I wanted to share my experiences with other people and educate others on the topic of homelessness in Argentina. Since so many people can be afraid to interact with the homeless, I was the person to break the norm. I wanted to make my own life of learning and caring for others in Argentina, and thankfully I got what I wished for. I made friends and various acquaintances who I still remember after returning to the United States ten months ago.

REFLECTING ON LESSONS LEARNED

I believe that I have gained unique experiences through my classes taken at Wartburg College. I have not only had the opportunities to learn about different cultures, but I had the opportunity to learn about social issues that affect those from other cultures. Although at times it can be really nerve-wracking to reach out to people who may seem different through a first impression, being brave and getting to know those people can not only provide a great relationship, but it can help a person better understand problems that others might be struggling with. Although for my entire life I have been very timid, I learned from Thorpe about the importance of stepping outside of my comfort zone and get to know others as I did in Argentina. Rather than limiting myself, I should continue to undertake these challenges to be a better leader and a better person.

*Manos Abiertas. Manos Abiertas. Help Argentina, RACI, Manos Abiertas. Web. 25 October 2013.

**Thorpe, Helen. Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2009. Print.

 

Confusion to Competency

When I first started to brainstorm about the topics of my paper this week, I was a little stuck. Usually I can think of plenty of examples of how I have been in leadership positions throughout my time in Wartburg. However, this week my class is challenged to think of how taking classes outside of our major have helped us become leaders. Part of me is puzzled because it has been a couple of years since I have taken a single class that was not a requirement for either my major or my minor. After reflecting upon my previous classes at Wartburg, I realized that the classes that I took helped give me a bigger understanding of the communities with which I may have to deal with. In my very first class, Inquiry Studies: Better Living through Chemistry, my class talked about the importance of having a liberal education. We talked about how, as students, it is not only important to try and understand ourselves, but try to understand others as well. We highlighted that if people learn from multiple disciplines, people will have similar backgrounds and it will be easier to relate to one another.

In a Ted Talk*, Ria Merchandani from Brown University talked about how being liberally educated can help support a community. In her hometown in India it took five years to build a bridge because of conflict among the engineers and the community where the bridge was being building. The engineers did not understand the lifestyles of the fishing communities who were going to be displaced and the community did not understand the science behind why the bridge needed to be place where their homes were. Even if just the engineers were a little more liberally educated about socioeconomic classes and struggles that people go through, it might have been easier to make progress more quickly. Mirchandani said in her concluding statements that, "science and humanities cannot live in isolation. It only leads to inefficiency" (Mirchandani). Therefore, as a leader within a progressive world, it is imperative to have an open mind and to learn about topics that might not relate directly to who I am so that I can better understand who others are. By being able to have such a background, not only will I be more aware as a leader, but I am more capable of being a problem solver. At my time at Wartburg, I have been gifted with the opportunities to learn more in-depth about cultural and socioeconomic differences that someone without a liberal education might not understand.

CULTURAL CONFUSION

When I returned to Wartburg after spending six months in Argentina, I was a little nervous about how I would transition back to life within the United States. To help take off some of the pressure of adjustment, I took a class called Return Adjustment. When I first signed up for this class, I noticed that only me and one other girl who went to study abroad in Kenya were in the class. I was definitely sure that we would have different experiences to share with one another. However, on the first day of classes, I was surprised to find six other international students joining our class. While I was confused why they were there, my professor explained that we would be focusing on the transitions from being in another country and the difficulties of returning home. The international students had either just visited home, or were planning on returning home at the end of the semester. What was interesting was that even though we were all from different countries from around the world, we all had similar struggles when going abroad. Additionally, I was able to get a glimpse into the rules and rituals of my classmates' cultures as well.

Since I would like to work with people from other countries (or possible travel across the world), it is essential that I understand some of the struggles that may come with those responsibilities. One topic we talked about throughout the entirety of the course was intercultural communication. Many times, when interacting with someone from another culture, it's very easy for there to be a misunderstanding. Not only can a person be lost in translation, but non-verbal communication can be a source for confusion. As we shared stories about how accidentally offended people or said something we didn't mean, we discussed ways where we could be more prepared for these situations. In fact, for our final project, our class split up into groups and we had to make a "Survival Guide" for traveling to other countries. Since we all had experiences abroad, we were role models for others for their experiences abroad. My group said how people should find information about a country before they travel there through reading books and online information as well as talking to friends who have either traveled to that country or live there. We highly encouraged people to talk to friends because their experiences usually were more clear and direct about what a person should do. Not only should people try to learn more about non-verbal communication, but they should also learn about different roles in other cultures, too. For instance, we noted that people should learn about the distinctions of interactions between men and women, husbands and wives, elders and children, teachers and students, and professional to professional. Not understanding the importance of relationship can lead to many opportunities for cultural miscommunication. When we were abroad, we had talked to our friends and colleagues about what to look out for. The fastest way to learn was to make the mistake and see through people's reactions that something went wrong. Now as a leader I understand the importance of being culturally aware and that I should always make sure to pay attention to other cultures.

As a leader that works with various cultures, it is important to learn about the people from that culture before arriving. Then, by appearing culturally aware, the people of the culture may feel more comfortable, enhancing the relationship with that cultural group. For instance, before I left for Argentina, I read information about the country and talked to people who had already visited the country. One important lesson that I learned from those resources was to always greet people by kissing them once on the cheek rather than shaking their hand. Then, once I arrived to the country, I felt a little more prepared about what to do.

PLAYING WITH DIFFERENCES

As a part of working with the High School Leadership Institute, I had to take a class with the other mentors for the summer called Youth Leadership Mentoring Seminar. In this class, we not only learned how to be a mentor for the high school students entering the program, but we reflected on the importance of working with diverse populations. We decided that we needed to make sure that the high school students were introduced with various kinds of diversity because when the students went home to implement their projects, many of them would need to work with people who are different than them. One of the most obvious examples is age, but other factors were social class, race, and culture.

An activity that we did with the students to introduce them to the concept of working with diversity is called BARNGA*. BARNGA at first seems like a simple card game where each player cannot talk. The students are divided up into multiple groups and then taught the rules of the game. Little do they know that they are being taught different rules. Each round they bid pennies and the person with the most tricks at the end wins the pennies. After the students go through the simple card game twice, some students are moved from one group to another based on how many pennies they had. At that point we usually have a lot of students who become skeptical and confused. When I played the game the first time, I just sat and let the people at the new group tell me what I should be doing because I was not going to be the one to disrupt the game. However, other people were determined that their way was the right way and tried to fight for the trick.

The themes that we were addressing through BARNGA were the differences between societal rules in social classes. We emphasized that although someone may entire a community with the best intentions, their actions may not be interpreted well by the community because they don't follow the social norms. This lesson was not only crucial for the students who were planning the service learning projects to implement at home, but for all volunteers. As a volunteer, I have encountered people who do not want to accept the gifts that my group has to offer. Even though initially my group thought that the people should be gracious for the services that we offered, we realized that sometimes we weren't addressing a problem that was really important to the community we were serving. Also, sometimes people had so much pride that they could not accept the situation that they were in and ask for help. As a leader, I must try to recognize the needs of the communities that I interact with on a daily basis. If I do not take the time to learn what is important to the community, there is potential for confusion or frustration among both parties. Subsequently, the high school student leaders we worked with had to learn how to deal with people who might not agree with their proposal and how to interact with others who are different than them that they may work with.  In life, this is a reality that all people need to accept. Within my leadership style, I am more comfortable in watching others and follow social cues before trying to give my own input. Once I understand what is going on, then I feel free to more actively participate within a community.

FINAL COMMENTS

As I leader, I have to remember to have an open mind. As I learned, even if a class was not a requirement of my major or minor, there were still some prevalent lessons to learn that can help with future interactions. People are so incredibly different that by having knowledge in various fields, it is more likely that there will be some way to try and relate to them. Most importantly, a leader has to take the  initiative to learn more about others and try something new. Without the confidence to take initiative, my leadership would be stagnant. However, the capacity to be adaptive is essential to leadership, and my journey to expand my leadership has included taking classes that do not relate to my major or minor.


*Mirchandani, Ria. "Putting Liberal Education in Perspective: Ria Mirchandani at TedxBrownUniversity." Ted Talks. YouTube. 21 November 2012. Web. 20 October 2013.
 
**Thiagarajan, Sivasailam and Raja Thiagarajan. Barnga: A Simulation Game on Cultural Clashes, Boston: Intercultural Press, 2006.

The Best of Both Worlds

A lot of people don't really understand what sociology is all about. Yes, some people might know that sociology deals with studying human behavior, but putting sociology into the context of a job is hard to grasp. Preparing for graduation, it is a little daunting to figure out what I can do within my field. In my capstone class, Perspectives in Sociology, we focus on not only how sociology fits into everyday lives, but how it can fit into our futures. I have learned that I am prepared for multiple job opportunities because of my breadth of knowledge and dispositions. Coincidentally, many important sociological themes can also be reflected in the skills of a leader. For instance, some of the topics that we address are: how to work within a group, how to interact with various cultures, the importance of race, class, and gender, and public advocacy. Each of these topics is very helpful in terms of working with specific groups of people or working under certain circumstances. In my Perspectives in Sociology class we have taken what we know about these topics and put it in a larger context of public sociology. Both aspects require a deep understand of society in order to have success. As a future graduate from the department of sociology, it is inevitable that I will run into situations within these larger categories.

DEFINING PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY

In his 2004 address for the American Sociology Association, Michael Burawoy** defined public sociology as "taking sociology to publics beyond the university, engaging them in dialogue about public issues that have been studied by sociologists" (Burawoy). He was trying to promote public sociology because he believes that nowadays "professional sociologists" spend so much time discussing and researching social problems with other people in higher education, that rarely there is interaction with the people who are affected by the social problems. Instead, he proposes that people should not only share their research with the educated, but also share the information with the general public. Subsequently, the general public, too, could participate in promoting social change.

While talking in my Perspectives in Sociology class, we addressed the key characters of public sociologists and how they are differentiated from the professionals who spend their time researching and writing. First, they spend more time in a certain community, actively learning about what is important to the community and what the members might be struggling with. Subsequently, public sociologists address the needs of the people in the community. Finally, public sociologists are generally only well-known within their own community. They are not as famous because they spend their time and efforts in a specific community rather than trying to gain attention for their work. Examples of people who would fit under these definitions would be church leaders, volunteer coordinators, or other leaders within smaller organizations.

I view public sociologists as leaders. Not only do they understand what encompasses a certain issue, but they understand how to go about and promote change. During my sophomore year, I took a class called Social Problems. In this class, all we did was deconstruct various social problems and brainstorm possible ways to implement change. There is a model that we used from Joel Best's book, Social Problems, to try and solve these dilemmas (Best 49):

Claimsmaking --> Media Coverage --> Public Reaction --> Policymaking --> Social Problems Work --> Outcomes*

Basically, a sociologist takes something that they believe is a problem, defines it, informs the public, evaluates the public's response (and adapts accordingly), and then tries to fight for policies that could help start social change. One sad truth is that this process can be slow and it might take a really long time for social change. A public sociologist would then take measures accordingly within their own community. This usually means taking measures for short-term change. Interestingly enough, providing support within a community can help bring the community together because they are aware of the issues at hand and know how to manage them. The public sociologist is just the leader who brings people and resources together.

As I have previously mentioned in other posts, service is very important to who I am and what I do. What intrigues me so much about sociology is applying the knowledge of how to interact with people in various situations whether they have differences of race, class, gender, culture, or sexuality. Rather than judging people, sociology learns about people for who they are and how they interact. I love learning about how different people interact. I believe that my knowledge is useful in terms of problem solving. While people view social problems in an egocentric perspective, I try to think about the lifestyles and backgrounds of others and how to form a common ground between extremes. If I do not know the other perspective, I am not afraid to ask about it. In terms of service, this has meant that I have gone out into various communities and gotten to know the people and their backgrounds. Although I might not be able to understand what life is like living in their shoes, I have a base knowledge that can help develop my own opinions and perspectives. Having that type of information then makes it easier to use the social problems model. Even though I have not been able to make that large of a social change yet, through sociology it is a goal that I would hope to someday attain; even if it were to be a small-scale change within a community like a public sociologist.

PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY IN ACTION

Plus, public sociologists reflect three of the four pillars that Wartburg promotes: Leadership, Service, and Learning. By being leaders in communities, public sociologists promote learning through service to try and fight social problems. At Wartburg, many of the opportunities that I had to a leader through sociology was during the service trips that I went on. One service trip in particular really made me want to become more involved in  communities and promoting their social problems was my spring break trip to Corpus Christi, Texas.

Throughout the week, our group of Spanish majors, minors, and native speakers worked with an organization affiliated with Lutheran Social Services of the South called Bokenkamp Children's Shelter. This organization works with unaccompanied minors who crossed the United States-Mexico border through various modes of transportation. Some children rode across the border on the tops of trains, some walked across the border with a group, while others were part of a form of trafficking. The children are caught on their way to finding their families in the United States and taken to this shelter. Bokenkamp provides, clothes, food, shelter, and an education. Most importantly, the workers try to find a way to reunite the children with their families in the United States. The steps taken by the founders of Bokenkamp relate to the beginning stages of Best's social problems model that is promoted in sociology. In terms of the institution itself, the founders of the shelter made a claim that unaccompanied minors were being put in danger by being taken to I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) because they were housed with adults. Subsequently, they worked within the Lutheran Church to develop this shelter to protect the children. Unfortunately, immigration is such a controversial issue, that there has been little additional progress for Bokenkamp. Not everyone supports the idea of helping children who traveled here illegally to be reunited with their families here in the United States but rather have them sent back to where they came from. However, the founders of Bokenkamp acted more as public sociologists, addressing the children who were caught around the Corpus Christi area and provided shelter and services for them. Even though their influence might not be nation-wide, the services provided by the organization have truly made a positive impact on the children that come through. In terms of leadership in public sociology, addressing the needs of the community is the most important.

In terms of our involvement, we helped repaint some of the bedrooms that the students stayed in but also had the opportunity to interact with the children. We sat and ate lunch with them every day and learned about their stories - how they arrived to the United States and who they were planning on visiting. What we learned as a group from this group was more than what services that Bokenkamp offers but rather pain that these children have to go through emotionally, physically, and mentally. Within sociology, I can understand the problems within immigration as well as the personal effects that it has had on people. I became increasingly more aware about immigration reformation after participating in this trip by reading up on the progress being made at the national level. Sociologically speaking, the reasons that the children are coming here is to be reunited with family. In Latino culture, family is central where often multiple generations live together. Even though there are more financial opportunities  in the United States, the reasons for coming here are based on the family. However, there are many people who stereotype any immigrant coming into the nation as one involved with drugs. I can then, as a leader, discuss the various perspectives of the issues by sharing the stories of the people I interacted with. Hopefully then people can see immigrants as fellow humans rather than criminals. Many of the stories that I told were to friends and family. Although not all of them agree with the intentions of Bokenkamp Family Shelter, they took the time to listen to me because I was passionate about it and I can see the issue from various standpoints.By continuing to share stories and the various perspectives that I encounter through my experiences and through sociology, I can hopefully start to make change one person at a time.

MY FUTURE

At this point, I am not entirely sure where my sociology degree is going to lead me. However, I know that sociology can be seen in many forms and can definitely come in handing in terms of working with diverse populations. It can be hard to take the time to look at various perspectives of a certain issue - especially if it is controversial. Therefore, it is even more imperative that I use my knowledge and training from sociology to help build relationships and promote understanding through communities. In the past I have done this through attending service trips, such as my trip to Bokenkamp. Since I enjoy working with people as well, I am hopeful that I can find a job that best reflects who I am. Now it is important to keep on searching for a job and hope that future employers can see my passionate personality with my desire to help others.

*Best, Joel. Social Problems. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 2008. Print.

**Burawoy, Michael. “The Return of the Repressed: Recovering the Public Face of U.S. Sociology.” American Sociological Association. University of California, Berkeley. 14 August 2004.

Taking the Lead

What has gotten me so involved in leadership throughout my life is the idea of fighting for something. Personally, that has meant being involved in various service-oriented activities such as mission and service trips or volunteering around the community throughout the year. Whatever small change I hope to bring  through service does not necessarily mean that the change that I am fighting for will happen in the way that I imagined. Nonetheless, I really value having something to believe in.

THE STUDENT LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

As a leader, I recognize that if I want there to be change, I am going to have to be the one to work towards that change. However, in order to see that change, it is imperative to gain the attention of others and have them included in the cause. Kouzes and Posner write in their book, The Student Leadership Challenge, that there are five steps to leadership: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision (which I have previously addressed), Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. I believe that in addition to being steps of leadership, these steps represent the initiative that people take to get others involved.

A situation in which I took initiative using the steps of Kouzes and Posner was when I worked with the participants from my fall service trip to Waterloo in 2011 to organize a sleep-out to promote homelessness. Some of the background information includes that our service trip that worked with the homeless and that we concluded everything by participating in Reggie's Sleep-Out held by Drake University in Des Moines. During this event, we learned about the impact of homelessness and then made and slept in our own shelter made out of cardboard boxes for the night. Even though we were very cold and our Wartburg castle did not win a prize in the decorating contest, we were moved as we learned about and experienced some of the conditions that homeless individuals live through. We were so moved and learned so much throughout the weekend about homelessness that my group wanted to bring our own sleep-out to the Wartburg students.

In our efforts to enlighten other Wartburg students, my group and I utilized the different aspect of leadership. As mentioned previously, the first thep in the Kouzes and Posner Student Leadership Challenge is to Model the Way. This was done when my group went to the sleep-out at Drake University. We showed that we, college students, could make it through the night in a cardboard shelter and make the best of the experience. However, we had to Challenge the Process a bit by having students actually spend the night outside rather than going back to their dorm rooms right across campus. This was probably the biggest challenge because spending a night outside is inconvenient and challenging due to the cold weather. In order to successfully challenge the students of Wartburg and motivate them to walk in the shoes of the homeless, we needed to Inspire a Shared Vision. We needed other students to take the initiative to come and join our cause. We shared stories among our friends and had a table sitting in the Student Center where our various participants would share their stories of the experiences. Each participant also brought the stories back to their various clubs and organizations. We also promoted a shelter decorating contest that would result in a prize. More importantly, we tried to emphasize the importance of coming to the event as an opportunity to learn more about and promote homelessness. Of course, our approach was not perfect. We still could have done more publicity and talked to the faculty and have them encourage their students to participate. In terms of Enabling Others to Act, a great deal of logistics was involved. Since I was one of the trip leaders, I was the one to make sure that we had all of the supplies we needed such as cardboard boxes, that all of the reservations were made, and that we had an educational reflection to do with the participants of the sleep-out. Finally, there is the importance of Encouraging the Heart. It was VERY chilly night when we had the sleep-out. Most people who were even considering coming became very wary because of the cold temperatures.We had to try our best to ensure people that it was indeed possible to cuddle up in the cardboard boxes without completely freezing. The more people that we had come to sit with us in the cardboard boxes, the easier that it was for people to consider joining.

The lesson learned from this experience was that taking initiative within a leadership position means more than just making a decision to do something. It means being able to recognize all the steps of making a movement or planning an event. As an organizer, I know what needs to be done, but sometimes I struggle with the execution. If I have other people around me who support me though, taking initiative will be a little easier. Also, if I take one step at a time and view the initiative within the eyes of the five steps leadership, then figuring out what to do next will be a little easier.

FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS

Another theme in taking initiative would be selflessness. Even though many times a leader can reap benefits for something that they are fighting for, generally the initiative has to benefit other people as well. Rather than having the focus on the leader, a leader promotes the focus of the effects on other stakeholders. Although the Servant Leadership video clip from the Dayton Film Contest talks specifically about servant leadership, I think some of the themes can be applied to initiative as well.

There are a few parts about this clip that really hit me. First, I am moved when the boy says that, "leadership is rising above imitation as an individual who rises about the paradigm, denying the standards we hold ourselves to and defining ourselves as a small piece to a large puzzle" (Stucky). In terms of initiative, a leader ignores the rules set by society in order to bring a "good "change to the community. What this means is that although many times it is easier to conform, that's not always what's best. Honestly, that is a challenge that I work with every single day. As much as I would like to be accepted by everyone, I am too stubborn to be coerced into doing something that I do not believe is right. Rather than just be a bystander and people tear one another down, I as a leader will be the one to stand up for others. The boy in the video says that, "we must become progressive citizens of a global population who can put others before themselves" (Stucky). Having the confidence and bravery to actually stand up reflects the initiative taken by being a leader whether it be in my personal life or work life because I am one part to a larger community. The first step to the transformation is to speak up.

Although this video might not connect with all people in terms of initiative and getting a movement started, I personally gain a lot of motivation and determination when trying to figure out how to help others. I believe that the world is a system of communities and that communities should help one another. Therefore, in order to have stable communities, people need to take the initiative to try and enhance their communities in whatever needs a community might have.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The aforementioned clip shares one idea that really resonates with me: the idea "to live for what [you] believe in..." (Stucky). Following his footsteps, if there is something that I believe in, I am going to make sure to work my hardest to make sure that I am best addressing the needs of the people with whom I am working . I will be an example for others while encouraging and inspiring them to take the challenge with me. However, I hold a little bit of a pessimistic view. I believe that if I want something to get done, it isn't going to get done without my determination and work to start something. This mindset has allowed me to be a part of many activities and really grow within my leadership. As long as I remain have an open heart and open mind and follow the steps of leadership, I hope to grow within my leadership and leadership goals. In the future I will be able to take on larger initiatives that reach greater populations. Rather than addressing just a college campus, I will be able to reach out to various communities. It will be amazing to see what type of change taking initiative within a larger context would look like and I look forward to taking on the challenge in the future.

*Kouzes, James M. and Barry Z. Posner. The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008. Print.

**Stucky, Sam. “Servant Leadership – Dayton Film Contest.” University of Dayton Film Contest. YouTube, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Sept. 2013.