Jan
9
I reflect on my past to better my future.
~ Me
I’ve written more than one essay about how being the president of my senior class has changed me. Sometimes I thought I was overplaying its importance, but at this point, as I write this, I realized that it was important. It says something about how well I could manage being in charge of a group of people, how well I could take advice from advisors, and how well I could sway a class and convince them to buy into fundraisers. All of that is way easier said than done.
I led a campaign saying that I had experience and was in office already. This focal point seemed like a double-edged sword, however, given that the current state of the junior class office was not all that great. With a bit of luck, my strongest competitor was forced to drop out, and I eventually won the election against a pretty formidable opponent. I was so antsy and ready to go after the election, which was a few months before the senior year started. Once I did get into the swing of things, though, I realized that it was going to be much more complicated than it was before.
My leadership style was different, and at times, some people wondered if I was even doing anything at all. I discovered that this style was my philosophy of leading after this time I spent as president. I lead with the idea of the specialist; that is, I believe that for a certain task, there are people that are experienced in the field, more so than I would be. My goal is to find those people, get them on board, plan the course of action for them, and supervise their work. Committing to these tasks is committing to behind-the-scenes work, and as a president, not everyone would agree with me going completely behind the scenes. I considered my specialties planning, organizing, and making speeches. I was perfectly fine on taking the front line when it was time to make an announcement. I felt that my strategy worked just fine and that, in a comfortable spot, I was bound to make less mistakes. I did have a few issues, though.
As a leader, I feel that I was way too conservative. There were things I should have took a stronger stand on, such as the whole Halloween costume fiasco. I did not confront as much as I should have and I let some opportunities slip away. I was too much in a shell at times, and because of that, I did not work to my full potential. Also, while I do believe being behind the scenes is best, I should’ve rolled up my sleeves a little more than I did. One major thing, and something that will be a dire error to commit when I begin teaching, is that I did not feel that I had as much authority as I should have; as a result, I did not act as strongly as I could have in certain situations.
I feel that overall I did a satisfactory job at the position, but I perhaps was not the most qualified. Even through all the good and the bad, I sincerely thank God and the class for the opportunity that I was granted. I know the whole senior class story ended a semester ago, but I feel that I should write about it now, since it’s been a few months and hopefully long enough that it doesn’t get too personal. This is all about my performance in particular; I mean no ill-will against the class, against the other officers, or against my advisors.
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