Alumni F18

I’ve always had a hard time thinking for myself. I put other people’s opinions ahead of mine, so I don’t make them angry. Leadership is a thing that I have always struggled with. It was like I was contradicting my previous mindset. I had to rewrite what I thought was right and wrong. I couldn’t be the leader everyone expected me to be, but then I learned that every leader was different. Leadership isn’t something that everyone does the same. Everyone leads in the way that they feel can best support who they are leading. 20/20 Leadership allowed me to see how others lead and how those different ways impact others. 

Thanks to &&&&&& &&&&&, I have been able to participate in 20/20 Leadership. In 20/20 Leadership, I have connected with people from other schools, learned life lessons, and just had fun. I will never forget the first day we came and the activity we had to do. We had to find people, not from our school and mark them for different things, like if one of your siblings was in 20/20 leadership. I was terrified. I have a tough time talking to people, and I am extremely socially awkward, so the last thing I wanted to do was talk to people I had never met before. There were even some people I knew from sports and was too afraid to talk to. All my friends were the opposite of me and were off to talk to people immediately, so I stood awkwardly until I finally got enough courage to speak to someone. I went over, talked to the first person I met, and all the worries disappeared. The person I spoke to was friendly and wanted to know more about me than what was just on the paper. After that, I went from person to person, having fun and enjoying the conversations. For once in my life, I felt social. I wanted to talk to people.

I will definitely use the things that I have learned in 20/20 leadership in the future. The first thing would be the college and trade fairs they have hosted. I have connected and learned so much from each of those opportunities. At the college fair, I could talk to people from KU, understand what it consisted of, and learn about the scholarships I could apply for. Another thing that I have learned is that I can lift a gold bar with my pinky. But all jokes aside, I learned how to manage money better and figure out whether the things I want are what I need. I have a hard time managing my money. When I see something I want, I immediately get it without hesitation, but after that trip, I ask myself, do I really need that? 

Leaving a legacy to me means leaving something that people will remember you by and can help teach someone a lesson in the future. I want to leave a legacy on 20/20 Leadership and all juniors moving up next year. I want to teach them anything I can to help them face the future and senior year.