Leadership and Team Building

In my eyes, a crucial aspect of a good leader is a consistent engagement with those you are leading. Students are much more receptive to constructive criticism when they know they can genuinely trust you and confide in you. My junior year, when I was a reporter, I saw how well our staff interacted with each other. Entering my senior year, I aimed to recreate this accepting and encouraging environment with my staff, and pushed myself to further engage with staffers and help them throughout the reporting process.

Our staff has a messaging group which we use to communicate and get quick answers, and I send out regular texts encouraging them to keep working hard. I also regularly text staffers to check in with them on how stories are going. I hope by doing this I can foster within the staff the love of journalism that I am lucky enough to have.

I also have encouraged staffers to interact with journalism in the world around them. For instance, when the Washington Post aired an advertisement during the Super Bowl, the next day I showed the clip to the class and prompted discussion about the underlying message and what it means for journalism today. I also regularly bring up news stories with my staff to discuss, especially those pertaining to First Amendment freedoms.

Leadership is not always easy. At the beginning of the year, I found myself giving extensions whenever a student asked, sometimes even when they did not have a legitimate reason. I was tentative and still developing my role as a leader. As the year went on, I came to realize that the staff would be what I made it. Extensions are now given only with a legitimate reason, and we are all better for it. My staff has grown exponentially better at working under pressure and covering stories in a timely manner, and with them I have improved my own skills as well.

Emily, freshman staff member: "Stella is someone I see as not only a leader, but as a friend. She helps us all to be successful without coming across as haughty or overbearing."

Maddy, sophomore staff member: "Stella is always willing to help everyone and will stop everything to make sure everyone is taken of before her own needs are met. When you meet Stella the first thing you will notice is her strong leadership and commanding presence, she is a great leader because she is patient, kind, and cares for everyone."