Unique Leadership Identities
Unique Leadership Identities
"I am a..."
Experiences become meaningful when we connect to them in some personal way. When I look back at my most meaningful experiences, I find that they always ties back to where I've come from-- in some way or another.
Take my summer 2019 study abroad for example. I applied to the program because of my interest in human rights, but that very interest goes back to my upbringing. For one week of our program, "Honors in Sweden: Looking to Sweden as a Global Model on Rights", my classmates and I attended Stockholm Pride. As a daughter raised by three womxn, the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community has always been core to who I am. Another example of this, before college, is my experience as a student ambassador for People to People (a program to teach intercultural understanding) in China, my birth country. Every opportunity I purse is close to home.
I want to spend my life improving the lives of fellow people; therefore, I am dedicated to taking mindful and appropriate action. To me, this means truly listening to and following the lead of the populations I seek to help. My current work at Common Power (CP) exemplifies one way I live out this leadership identity. When we engage in fieldwork we always partner with local organizers.
There are a lot of ways to take action and advocate for things you believe in, but in the craze to do so, sometimes we lose sight of what we are truly trying to accomplish. In all my leadership roles, and life in general, I seek to be mindful and true to my values.
I’ve never been one to take the easy route. In fact, I thrive when thrown into the deep end. Unfortunately, when I first arrived at university, I lost this for a bit. Rather than pushing myself out of my comfort zone and doing things I wanted, I fell into the trap of what I thought a undergraduate career should look like. Disaffiliation from my sorority was a step back on the right path for me. I rediscovered myself and will continue to grow instead of simply doing what’s expected.