Upon joining the Scholars Public Leadership program, I had a relatively close-minded understanding of what it meant to be a leader. I believed that an individual possessing the traits of confidence and charisma automatically meant they were a good leader. While these are important traits that many successful leaders have had, public leadership taught me that there is far more to good leadership than a set of given characteristics. Public Leadership demonstrated that good leadership is extremely subjective and every individual can have their own leadership style.
Through an abundance of group work, the Public Leadership program enabled every individual to find their own strengths and weaknesses in regards to becoming a successful leader. In my opinion, a variety of group assignments were extremely effective in honing each individual student's leadership abilities; more often than not, a leader guides others, not oneself. My leadership style changed drastically from only focusing on myself to becoming more open-minded and accepting of my peers' perspectives.
To demonstrate the shift in my leadership philosophy and problem-solving techniques, I have attached several personal works below.
Through an abundance of group work, the Public Leadership program enabled every individual to find their own strengths and weaknesses in regards to becoming a successful leader. In my opinion, a variety of group assignments were extremely effective in honing each individual student's leadership abilities; more often than not, a leader guides others, not oneself. My leadership style changed drastically from only focusing on myself to becoming more open-minded and accepting of my peers' perspectives.
To demonstrate the shift in my leadership philosophy and problem-solving techniques, I have attached several personal works below.
First Year Position Paper
My position paper is a formal analysis on identifying critical flaws within the current education system that prevent many low income student from pursuing a post secondary education. From my research I found a plethora of faults within the current educational system at both the state and federal level. In addition to identifying an extremely urgent issue, I offered several research based solutions which could provide underprivileged students the necessary assistance to ensure a chance at receiving a higher education in the U.S.. |
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Putting An End to Dental Inequality in the U.S.
The aforementioned work gives a detailed description on how I aim to solve the current dental care disparity in the U.S.. In this essay I discuss how free dental care can be administered to underprivileged individuals. In addition I explain how a stronger education on the importance dental health can be used as a preventative method to the disturbingly high number of individuals currently experiencing dental health issues. |
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My Personal Leadership Philosophy
In this piece I discuss my ideal leadership philosophy through the lens of Oskar Schindler. In my opinion, Oskar Schindler is the ultimate example of an excellent leader. I strongly believe that the most commemorable aspect of Schindler's leadership is that he did everything from the goodness of his own heart without ever needing an incentive. Schindler gave up everything to save a people he owned absolutely nothing too. |
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Final Thoughts:
Now that my time in Public Leadership (PL) has come to an end, I would like to give a brief explanation of my experience. One of the main aspects of the PL program that worked extremely well was the group assignments. I used to be completely against group work-but this program shifted my perspective. Starting with the class trips first semester, as well as all of the interactive assignments, I believe the program did an excellent job at building a strong foundation between students. I cannot say that I became very close friends with everyone in the program. However, I developed enough of a relationship with each student to not feel like anyone was a stranger. I think this played an integral role in all of our projects as it seemed everyone was comfortable sharing their opinions. This facilitated an excellent learning environment for each student to become their own best leader. Everyone did their part, shared their ideas, and respected every member of the program, creating a memorable experience that I hope retain throughout my entire my academic journey.