The Watermark of Student Leadership

 

 

Engaging with students from around the state is always an amazing experience. So often we get caught up in our own initiatives that we loose track of the idea that there are thousands of students around the world striving to accomplish the same goals we have set up for ourselves. Many a times, we find ourselves frustrated and disappointed in the product of our endeavors. I was once told that leadership can take you to a very lonely place in life, and I find that true in many aspects. While it is simply a perceived loneliness, we sometimes find ourselves feeling like were alone in our journey towards making a difference. That being said, conferences like this remind me and connect me to the thousands of students who share my passions and see the world through a similar lens.

As always, these types of conferences inspire us all to go forth and do more in our community. While those I work with on a daily basis inspire me, I sometimes forget about the numerous privileges we have on the Rollins College campus. Our resources here are limitless compared to many of the programs in Florida, and to see students come together and do so much with their limited resources inspires me to utilize all that is given to me. In addition, I believe that leadership is a constant learning process. If we look at life as a chain mesh of experiences that link up to make us who we are, each experience creates an arena to learn more about others and ourselves. As I strive to understand what it means to be a leader and how I can be a more effective leader, conferences like The Watermark of Student Leadership help equip me with the tools needed to be a stronger leader.

In addition, I am always intrigued to see how and what others learn from shared experiences. We are all at different levels in terms of cognitive ability and we all see the world through different lenses. The group that went to this conference encompasses a broad spectrum in terms of experience, knowledge, and views in regard to leadership. Their individual analysis of different activities only enriches my understanding of what we learned. In some ways I see where I was only a few months ago, and I see my own progression of understanding.

I feel that I learned the most from our final group meetings where we had to create an action plan for our group topic. While most people left the session feeling that the process itself was a disaster, I cant help but feel that we were all part of a very important learning experience. In a room full of campus and community leaders, we were confronted with egos, time conflicts, busy schedules, and too many ideas. I couldnt help but see the irony in our situation. The very leaders, who sometimes complain about the difficulties of working with student organizations or special interest groups, or just other students, were having the same problems. True, we had a leader who created a forum to talk and provided structure, yet we lacked a basic understanding of what we were there to accomplish. We were caught up in semantics and we quickly lost track of our goal. Its not about us. We were there to find a way to create awareness about human rights violations and to make a difference in the lives of thousands of children around the world. A prerequisite to enter that room was that we had to be overbooked and too busy to do anything. But once again, its not about us. Its about giving voce to those who dont have one. Yet, we were so consumed with voicing our own wants and needs, that we missed the purpose of our planning. 

In that room I saw the same issues that I see on our campus every day when I work with student organizations or when I hear student leaders complain about communication issues and turning ideas into actions. It made me realize that at some point in our career we will all embody one of those roles. That is to say, we wont always see the bigger picture. We may let our personal agenda come in the way. We may even let our egos overshadow the task at hand. Acknowledging that possibility, I believe, is the first step towards becoming a stronger leader. Its impossible to make everyone happy all the time, and it is equally impossible to expect everyone to see any given situation through the same lens. All we can truly hope for is to be open to others opinions. To dismiss any line of thinking different than our own is to do everyone a great disservice. While we may not always see eye to eye with those we work with, we must attempt to understand the reasoning behind their perspective. Most of the time it will only help us understand our own positions slightly better. Leaders, in any capacity, dont always have the right answers. Rather, we all shed light on an issue through our own life experiences and understanding of the world. All we can hope for is that at the end of the day, when we all come together to work on something, that our collective lights and lenses illuminate our goal in all its entirety.

As I near the end of my Rollins College career as a student, I am torn in many ways about my future. As I think of the many great leaders on this campus, I feel that many of their accomplishments end with their departure. They do great things, and create positive changes, yet the passion to continue in the same direction is extinguished. While this may not be true of the leaders we see on this campus today, I do believe that this was true of the leadership that went through our school when I was a freshman and sophomore here at Rollins.

I am proud to say that when I leave, I am confident that there are many students who can step into my position and do what I do and so much more for both this campus and for the greater Central Florida community. The future of this college is bright, and the group of leaders that went on this trip exemplifies what the future holds. With that in mind, I hope that I have inspired others to strive to do more not for themselves but for others. Our future success depends on those who can look beyond themselves.

~ by amitkarr on July 26, 2008.