Campus Involvement
Once again, as the fall semester rolled around this school year, I was busier than the previous year. I have always been involved in student life, and each semester since I have attended Lee, my involvement seems to grow, as do I. My first semester, I was a senate member in the Student Leadership Council (SLC), and I played intramurals. The next year, I was a cabinet member of the SLC. I was stretched beyond belief compared to my previous leadership experiences, but I was very happy. This year, once again I am involved more than ever and being stretched more than ever as I am the Residence Director (RD) at Tharp Hall as well as a senate member on the SLC. My job is more than a student job. The job is a staff job with staff benefits. Being a RD is hard to define because the job is always changing, as am I. Being a RD includes everything from reporting maintenance requests, enforcing school rules, promoting spiritually enriching activities, to providing social activities, creating an academic but yet fun living environment, working through conflicts, coping with emergencies, doing reports for Marchese, Tilley, McClung, and others, doing my "special duty", etc. The list grows every day. I got invo
Reflecting on my purpose for becoming a RD, my leadership philosophy, my challenges and my strengths lead me to some important conclusions. One is that I always have to keep the vision of my organization before me. Sometimes, I get bogged down by the stress of school and my job, and I forget to lift up my head long enough to see why I am doing what I do. I do it because I love the girls. I do the job because I love helping people in the community. I do the job to serve God, my RA's and the residents. Also, seeing how my philosophy has changed and seeing that the challenges are what make me change helps me to persevere through the tough times. I know that dealing with different leadership styles can be challenging, but I also know that I am learning to be more innovative, to have more confidence in myself, and to take the initiative. I know learning boundaries between my roles is hard, but I know that these experiences will not be the only time I will have to learn to separate my roles. I am so thankful for all I am learning. Just knowing these things makes me a better leader. Since I have been a part of Residential Life as well as other leadership positions, I have learned many important leadership lessons. Before I came to Lee, I had not thought much about my leadership style, my philosophy, or anything of the sort. This year, I have thought more about it than ever. Before I even started this position, I wrote out my leadership philosophy the best I could. My leadership philosophy majors on issues like integrity, trust, and honesty. I believe in being a servant first. People must serve those so called "below" them. I believe in having a clear sense of vision and a mission. Without a vision, where would a leader be leading his/her followers to? I believe a leader must know where they are going. Since I actually started the job my leadership style and philosophy has been tweaked continually. I am always trying to be constantly aware of leadership lessons. I now try to major on things like celebrating victories and making people feel appreciated, setting clear expectations for both my RA's and my residents, modeling the way, building relationships, etc. For instance, to set clear expectations for my RA's, I developed a RA handbook pers
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tharp Hall, Residential Life, God RA's, Community Service, Campus Involvement, Council SLC, Tilley McClung, leadership lessons, leadership philosophy, leadership style, tharp hall, reporting maintenance requests, learned leadership lessons, job staff, residential life, community service, maintenance requests, reporting maintenance, learned leadership, leadership style philosophy,
Approximate Word count = 1534
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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