My Definition of a leader

The STARS LEAD program interests me in a variety of ways, but I am most looking forward to our work with the Empowerment Pipeline. It is a program created by students at Loyola to empower under privileged youth by giving them tools to reach for higher education. Teaching and helping youth is a passion of mine that has evolved since starting here at Loyola University. I am interested to see the specific workshops we will be doing with the current juniors or seniors in high school, and their reactions to the workshops. I am looking forward to building a mentoring relationship with them. The Empowerment Pipeline is the part of the lead program that I am most interested in. I hope to have a successful mentor-ship, form new friendships, find my true passions, and acquire and develop key leadership skills by the end of the program.

I enjoyed our first meeting as part of the lead program. It was nice to get to know new people in STARS and learn about how they define themselves. As Joe pointed out, it was interesting that it never came to our minds to identify ourselves as leaders. We all are in some ways a leader, we had to show that in order to be a part of the LEAD program. My personal definition of a leader is one who serves others in a way that inspires people and a person who carries themselves in a respectful, positive, and ethical manner. They follow what they believe is right even if no one is watching or even against it.
I hope to gain public speaking skills and confidence in communicating my thoughts with others. I usually get nervous talking in front of a large group of people and forget parts of what I am going to say. I would like to learn how to overcome this. I would also like to learn to be a quick decision maker, while still making well-informed decisions. My ability to see both sides of a situation makes it difficult to make a quick decision. I hope some skills I acquire are ones that I might not necessarily think of, but are important to being a good leader.