Leadership

     Many people define leadership in different ways.  A majority of the time these definitions vary based on the type of exposure each individual person has had to leadership.  For example, someone living in a Totalitarian-type government may assume leadership is full control of everyone with no room for freedom.  In contrast, someone living in a Democracy may assume that leadership is based on the majority's vote and insight, and that leader is put in place to serve and command according to how the majority wants them to lead.  For me, leadership is is someone who serves to please the majority, and does it willingly with an openness to criticism and change.  For example, I was one of three captains of my high school cross country team.  All three of us were willing to be captains and looked forward to the responsibility.  We made decisions for the group after hearing everyone's insight to make sure we were pleasing the majority.  We also listened to our coach and took control when she asked, as well as stepped down and supported when she asked.  We never controlled without consent and never made any decisions without talking with the rest of the team first.  We wanted to make sure that the group respected us and looked up to us without fear or disrespect.
     I fully enjoyed my time as a captain of my cross country team.  I miss that responsibility and hope to obtain a leadership role while on campus.  I am currently apart of Navigators.  Many of the small group student leaders are Sophomores or Juniors.  I hope that next year I can become a small group student leader for one of the Freshman Bible Studies.  I also hope to become more involved within the Triathlon Club.  Right now as a Freshman, it is very difficult to plan my schedule around group rides or runs because of my hectic schedule.  I hope that next year I can be one of the ride or run leaders and plan out times for training more fit to my schedule.  This way I can stay involved in the club as well as be a leader to those who are new to the sport or to the school.