Honors

Before taking LEAD 201, I was nervous about my spot in the Honors College. I was wondering if I could really be a "leader" in terms of a brand new initiative and if I would be in a good place as a student fellow. I felt like the office had a lot of faith in me and I wanted to ensure them that they had made a good decision.  Taking this class has really gave me some new ways to think of leadership and how to apply them to my position in the Honors College, on top of my other job. It made me appreciate the way that other people are leaders and how unique each person is. For example, I saw how supportive the directors of the Honors College were as I struggled with my mother's illness. They allowed me to put my personal needs above the group and offered their services. From this point forward, I know that I will always be more interested in what is going on in the lives of the people around me and how they might need help setting priorities.

LEAD 201 gave me skills and theories that I can use to understand the people around me and use to change the way that I act towards others when I am in positions. I now know that just because I want to lead one way, and another fellow wants to go another route doesn't mean that one of us is better than the other. I saw the true difference between management and leadership throughout this class, which I used to think were the same thing. My managers at Red Lobster, at the end of the day, care about that restaurant and are very task-oriented. On the other hand, I noticed more and more how the people in the Honors College were letting me be in control of my destiny. They were giving me some push and some tools to get there but in the end, they were nurturing me to grow.

It was exciting to see my thoughts and actions change as we learned each theory and talked about everyday examples of leadership. I am now a part of the MLP program which has many people from the Honors class, it is interesting to see the differences and similarities in discussion. This program is another opportunity to grow myself so I can move forward to grow others, the whole point of transformational and leadership in general. I can now pick up on what theory someone is employing, how that may effect the followers and what the outcome may be. I can say with sincerity that I matured through this class and I have a feeling that it will not stop as I take on the rest of the leadership minor.