My Leadership Experience
Throughout my time at Hobart and William Smith Colleges I have had many opportunities to gain leadership experience and acquire leadership roles. The Centennial Center for leadership has been a huge part of my leadership experience I have had at the colleges. I have been a part of their certificate program since my first year, where I have taken two leadership theory classes, a public speaking class, as well as do a research project on the topic of leadership ideologies between generations, for my practicum (more about what I did is under this). Through them I have explored certain roles of being a leader, such as being a mentor to other leadership scholars, and talking to admitted students about the Centennial Center. They have also allowed me to think about what I believe it means to be a true leader. The Orientation Team, or as we like to call it the 0-Team, has been the second biggest part of my leadership experience. I have been a part of the program since my sophomore year where I worked with first years during orientation to get them acquainted with college life, being there as a support system, as their Orientation Mentor. Now with my senior years approaching I have accepted the role of an Orientation Leader, where I will take on a bigger part of orientation, and help Orientation Mentors. Hobart and William Smith Colleges have given me opportunities to gain leadership experience through many ways, and I am excited to see what opportunities I get when I am a senior this upcoming year.
My Practicum
As part of finishing the LEADS certificate program, I had to complete a practicum or some sort of field work project. I decided to do a research paper on the topic of leadership ideologies between generations. I interviewed and gathered information from people throughout my campus. The older generation being faculty and staff, and the younger generation being students. I compared and contrasted the answers they gave, coming up with several conclusions and lasting thoughts. I decided to do this because in the program we are taught about different leadership approaches, and to analyze ourselves in how we believe we are leaders. Throughout that experience, I have always been interested in how other people understand leadership, and how others perceive good leadership to be. I also wanted to see if different age groups have any similarities or differences. That is what I set out to do in this project. To find out more or read it, I have linked the paper below.
leadership_between_generations.pdf | |
File Size: | 157 kb |
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Leadership Roles around Campus
- Orientation Mentor - I take a group of first years around campus and the Geneva area for the entirety of orientation which lasts about 4 days. I acquaint them with the campus, the community, and help make them feel comfortable in this new area. I want to make sure they start to feel at home and that they made the right choice. I help them when any sort of issues arise, be that homesickness, having trouble registering for classes, and anything else that may come up. I am there to answer any questions and give any advice they may want. It has been a really rewarding position for me the past two years, and I am so excited to work with OM's this year, and show them how fun and rewarding this position can be.
- Orientation Leader - I have been accepted to this position for my senior year. I will help with a bigger part of orientation, which will be Transfer Students. I have not worked with transfer students before, so I am excited to try something new. I want to help make their transition to this new college as seamless as possible. I also want to help create a program that will make them feel at home here. Aside from that I will help Orientation Mentors feel comfortable with their role and be there for any questions they may have.
- Leads Mentor - I help mentor incoming LEADS scholars, and help them with their first year. I am there as a guide and mentor for their first year and the LEADS program, to answer any questions they may have or give any advice they want. I help them with other important things such as registration, and show them the little tricks of the trade of it. I also tell them things they should try once I get to know them better. It is like an extension of being an OM, and I have also found it really rewarding.
- Orientation Leader - I have been accepted to this position for my senior year. I will help with a bigger part of orientation, which will be Transfer Students. I have not worked with transfer students before, so I am excited to try something new. I want to help make their transition to this new college as seamless as possible. I also want to help create a program that will make them feel at home here. Aside from that I will help Orientation Mentors feel comfortable with their role and be there for any questions they may have.
- Leads Mentor - I help mentor incoming LEADS scholars, and help them with their first year. I am there as a guide and mentor for their first year and the LEADS program, to answer any questions they may have or give any advice they want. I help them with other important things such as registration, and show them the little tricks of the trade of it. I also tell them things they should try once I get to know them better. It is like an extension of being an OM, and I have also found it really rewarding.