Royals 8

  I’ve always felt like I was a natural leader. I’m the first born, first daughter, granddaughter, and niece, so I’ve always had to be the ideal role model. I have been put in many leadership roles over the course of my high school career. I’m in 20/20 leadership, Student District Advisory Council, and I’ve been a student ambassador and a student intern. I love that my school can come to me and feel comfortable putting me in front of a camera as a student ambassador. Even with the pressure of newscasts, &&&&& &&&&&& still put its trust in me to stand confidently and talk about my positive experiences at my school. 

   I think one of my most important leadership roles that I got to experience during high school was being a student intern for my school district. It gave me work experience in a field that I am interested in studying when I get to college. I began working as a peer intern over the summer with 5th graders at Wendell Phillips Elementary. It was a summer job and a great way to get learning experience. At the internship, I was held to the same standards as teachers. I wore business casual attire and used appropriate language during conversations with students. Being a student intern gave me a chance to have this experience with the kids, and it allowed me to practice building relationships with them. 

      I was chosen this semester to be an intern in the spring semester of this school year. It’s a class that also functions as an internship. The class is worth half a credit, and the internship is a paid opportunity. I appreciate &&&&& &&&&&& for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the group of students that interned at our district’s elementary over the summer, as well gracing me with the honor of being a part of the first group to do it during the normal school year. 

         My experience as a student intern has taught me many lessons., I would like to specifically highlight the virtues of patience, perseverance and the importance of collaboration. I learning the virtues of patience from my students. Believe me, they do drive me crazy and sometimes I just want to scream, but that doesn’t get me anywhere with them. I learned quickly that even if I did scream that it wouldn’t get me the results I want from those kids. In the end even though they are children, they simply just want to be spoken to like normal people. 

         Perseverance is something that I learned from my students as well. They are always very persistent, especially when it comes to asking questions about topics they have an interest in. They’ll sit there and ask a million questions, some of which I would’ve never thought to ask myself. Due to that, I’ve learned so much from my students, much of which I may never have, if not for their persistence.

               Finally, I learned the importance of collaboration. I learned from the teacher I work with that working together can be difficult sometimes, but regardless two is better than one. When she focuses on working with the students in small groups, I’m focusing on helping the kids one-on-one. Our collaboration helps to enhance our strengths, it also helps us offer our students the best possible environment that we can provide, in order to create a space that is conducive to each student’s unique learning style. 

     I hope to demonstrate my leadership in the future by continuing to be involved in my high school and by displaying role model behavior for my peers. I want to be someone they can come to,  talk to, and feel unjudged and heard. This experience has made me want to further my education in social work and/or education, and it’s only helped fuel my urge to be involved in the myriad of ways I can grow my leadership skills.

       I want to truly be able to envelop myself in each and every one of those roles, but most importantly I want to continue to advocate for my students or clients. I want to make sure that the children don’t  feel like they’re just another case and that what they’re going through doesn’t matter. I’ve been in the system. I know how dysfunctional, overcrowded and under- resourced our system is and the way it makes the children feel as if nobody cares. I’m interested in education because we need teachers – ones that like their jobs, care about kids, and encourage them to be the best they can be . Also, there are so many other opportunities in education in addition to becoming a teacher that would still allow me to work with kids. Once I complete college, I plan on coming back to Missouri to serve my community with the degree I decide to pursue.