Leading
Definition: being able influence a group successfully to a common goal.
Criteria: passionate, influential, a listener, driven, humble
Example 1:
I can easily say that the FBI experience was one of the best I’ve had in college. The great group that I was in as a freshmen inspired me to apply to be a peer leader. My peer leaders were wonderful influences in my professionally and social life. They made the transition from high school to college easy and fun. I also made a really great group of friends, some of whom I am still friends with now. All of these things made applying for peer leader an easy decision. After completing the FBI course, I knew that I wanted to continue to be a part of it.
A good place to start is when we were assigned our sections. Each section had about 30 people in them. It was from these sections that we would be assigned our partners. When we got put into our sections, I did not know any of the guys, but a lot of the girls. I knew that I wanted to be partnered with a guy so it made me a little nervous that I didn’t know any of them. Little did I know that I would be partnered with such a great guy! On partner rev night, I was partnered with a guy named DJ Cieply. I had NO idea who this guy was, but somehow I knew we would work well together.
Over the summer, all of the peer leaders were supposed to stay in touch with our partners and get to know them a little better. Well, DJ and I didn’t do that. Oops. He claims he texted me once in July, but I was definitely out of the country so I’m not too sure if that’s true. But regardless, this made going into the fall semester a little bit awkward.
On the first day of class, DJ and I decided to go into small group with fun and positive attitudes, something that should not have been hard for people like us. Our freshmen had slightly different attitudes. They were extremely quiet and shy. DJ and I sort of expected this and still kept up our crazy attitudes. We of course, had a very different group of freshmen so we knew that we would have to work hard at helping them gel together. I knew this was going to be a different and new experience since not only did I not know my freshmen, but I barely knew my partner. Regardless of the awkwardness ahead of us, I was completely pumped for it anyway.
Over the next few weeks, we noticed that the freshmen started getting along. This was very encouraging to DJ and I. All it made us do was want to hang out more and get to know all of them. DJ and I quickly realized that the freshmen weren’t actually shy, they just hadn’t quite connected in class yet. We knew they would have a good time hanging out outside of class so that’s exactly what we did. We started having weekly hangouts with them and they loved it. They are such a fun group of people. Most of the time DJ or I would cook them dinner or go to one of DJ’s intramural football games. We noticed that the more we hung out outside of class that small group and large lectures went more smoothly. The freshmen became more interactive with us and with each other; they even seemed to be enjoying class. This was the most encouraging and awesome thing to see.
This trend of hanging out at least once a week turned into some of us just casually eating lunch or studying together, more like a group of friends than classmates. This was really awesome. I eventually became really close with most of the girls. Small group with DJ and the freshmen was way too much fun and easily the best part of my week. I looked forward to FBI every day.
By the time the semester started winding down, the freshmen were absolutely fantastic in class and with each other. They worked really hard on their final project and were hanging out every day outside of class. We have two girls who went to Paris, France during their spring break and two other girls living together their sophomore year. The impact that they made on my life is incredible. They taught me so much about myself. They showed me how to make the most of every circumstance and to work hard at even the smallest things. I’m also extremely grateful for the friendship that I have with DJ. He is so much more than an FBI partner. The FBI program in general has made a huge impact in my time at A&M. It allows you to grow professionally and socially as a freshman and as a peer leader. I will always be grateful for such a wonderful experience.
Example 2:
Another example of this competency is a new one actually. I recently applied and interviewed for the position of chair in PREP and was given the position. Upon reading my congratulations letter, I ugly cried for a while before going to meet my new partner. I could not be more blessed to be partners with him. I guess I will go ahead and tell you his name. His name is Kevin Vo and he is literally incredible. I wouldn’t want to be leading this organization with anyone else.
One of the first tasks as co-chairs was to pick our directors. The directors are two people that are the same age as you, just very different positions. This meant that we would be interviewing and choosing two people from staff, all of our closest friends. Let me go ahead and tell you that this was the hardest decision I have ever made. Having to reject some of your best friends for a position that they want more than anything is absolutely miserable. By rejecting them, we ended their time in PREP. This was something that I would not have been able to do without Kevin.
The next task as co-chairs wasn’t any easier. Kevin and I, along with our two new directors, had to choose from the 30 freshmen who applied to full our 12 sophomore executive positions. This meant that we had to reject freshmen from our socials and committees, all kids that we were extremely close too. Many freshmen were upset with us about our decision, but that just goes with being a leader. My time as co-chair has barely even begun and yet I have already made some of the hardest decisions of my life. If I haven’t already learned from my other leadership positions, I have learned in the past month and a half that being a leader is just plain hard sometimes. It’s hard because it is your responsibility to make the right choices, and most of the time these are the hardest. Your choices affect many, and in my case, hundreds of people. Realizing this can be hard, but when you surround yourself with people who help you challenge yourself and constantly grow, then you can get by. I have an entire year of this ahead of me, but I know I am the best for the position. I am ready and excited to take on the challenge.
Definition: being able influence a group successfully to a common goal.
Criteria: passionate, influential, a listener, driven, humble
Example 1:
I can easily say that the FBI experience was one of the best I’ve had in college. The great group that I was in as a freshmen inspired me to apply to be a peer leader. My peer leaders were wonderful influences in my professionally and social life. They made the transition from high school to college easy and fun. I also made a really great group of friends, some of whom I am still friends with now. All of these things made applying for peer leader an easy decision. After completing the FBI course, I knew that I wanted to continue to be a part of it.
A good place to start is when we were assigned our sections. Each section had about 30 people in them. It was from these sections that we would be assigned our partners. When we got put into our sections, I did not know any of the guys, but a lot of the girls. I knew that I wanted to be partnered with a guy so it made me a little nervous that I didn’t know any of them. Little did I know that I would be partnered with such a great guy! On partner rev night, I was partnered with a guy named DJ Cieply. I had NO idea who this guy was, but somehow I knew we would work well together.
Over the summer, all of the peer leaders were supposed to stay in touch with our partners and get to know them a little better. Well, DJ and I didn’t do that. Oops. He claims he texted me once in July, but I was definitely out of the country so I’m not too sure if that’s true. But regardless, this made going into the fall semester a little bit awkward.
On the first day of class, DJ and I decided to go into small group with fun and positive attitudes, something that should not have been hard for people like us. Our freshmen had slightly different attitudes. They were extremely quiet and shy. DJ and I sort of expected this and still kept up our crazy attitudes. We of course, had a very different group of freshmen so we knew that we would have to work hard at helping them gel together. I knew this was going to be a different and new experience since not only did I not know my freshmen, but I barely knew my partner. Regardless of the awkwardness ahead of us, I was completely pumped for it anyway.
Over the next few weeks, we noticed that the freshmen started getting along. This was very encouraging to DJ and I. All it made us do was want to hang out more and get to know all of them. DJ and I quickly realized that the freshmen weren’t actually shy, they just hadn’t quite connected in class yet. We knew they would have a good time hanging out outside of class so that’s exactly what we did. We started having weekly hangouts with them and they loved it. They are such a fun group of people. Most of the time DJ or I would cook them dinner or go to one of DJ’s intramural football games. We noticed that the more we hung out outside of class that small group and large lectures went more smoothly. The freshmen became more interactive with us and with each other; they even seemed to be enjoying class. This was the most encouraging and awesome thing to see.
This trend of hanging out at least once a week turned into some of us just casually eating lunch or studying together, more like a group of friends than classmates. This was really awesome. I eventually became really close with most of the girls. Small group with DJ and the freshmen was way too much fun and easily the best part of my week. I looked forward to FBI every day.
By the time the semester started winding down, the freshmen were absolutely fantastic in class and with each other. They worked really hard on their final project and were hanging out every day outside of class. We have two girls who went to Paris, France during their spring break and two other girls living together their sophomore year. The impact that they made on my life is incredible. They taught me so much about myself. They showed me how to make the most of every circumstance and to work hard at even the smallest things. I’m also extremely grateful for the friendship that I have with DJ. He is so much more than an FBI partner. The FBI program in general has made a huge impact in my time at A&M. It allows you to grow professionally and socially as a freshman and as a peer leader. I will always be grateful for such a wonderful experience.
Example 2:
Another example of this competency is a new one actually. I recently applied and interviewed for the position of chair in PREP and was given the position. Upon reading my congratulations letter, I ugly cried for a while before going to meet my new partner. I could not be more blessed to be partners with him. I guess I will go ahead and tell you his name. His name is Kevin Vo and he is literally incredible. I wouldn’t want to be leading this organization with anyone else.
One of the first tasks as co-chairs was to pick our directors. The directors are two people that are the same age as you, just very different positions. This meant that we would be interviewing and choosing two people from staff, all of our closest friends. Let me go ahead and tell you that this was the hardest decision I have ever made. Having to reject some of your best friends for a position that they want more than anything is absolutely miserable. By rejecting them, we ended their time in PREP. This was something that I would not have been able to do without Kevin.
The next task as co-chairs wasn’t any easier. Kevin and I, along with our two new directors, had to choose from the 30 freshmen who applied to full our 12 sophomore executive positions. This meant that we had to reject freshmen from our socials and committees, all kids that we were extremely close too. Many freshmen were upset with us about our decision, but that just goes with being a leader. My time as co-chair has barely even begun and yet I have already made some of the hardest decisions of my life. If I haven’t already learned from my other leadership positions, I have learned in the past month and a half that being a leader is just plain hard sometimes. It’s hard because it is your responsibility to make the right choices, and most of the time these are the hardest. Your choices affect many, and in my case, hundreds of people. Realizing this can be hard, but when you surround yourself with people who help you challenge yourself and constantly grow, then you can get by. I have an entire year of this ahead of me, but I know I am the best for the position. I am ready and excited to take on the challenge.