Leslie Holbrook

April 5, 2010

Council Reflection Paper

 

            When I decided to join the council, I was looking for an opportunity to serve and to get involved in my college. At the beginning of the semester, when I started on the council, I had a hard time seeing the bigger picture. My committee was working on projects, but I didn’t have a really good idea of what we were doing and why we were doing it. In addition, I had a hard time feeling like I was part of the council; much of the time, I didn’t have an assignment and I felt like my leaders didn’t trust me with assignments.

            However, part-way through the semester, I started to feel more comfortable in the situation and I began volunteering more for projects. During the semester, I mainly worked on two things. First of all, I was the first one to set up Council Corner in Weekly Announcements. I contacted Danny Boysen and told him very specifically what it was that we wanted to put in our newly made Council Corner. After that first time of setting it up, my committee divvied up the assignment of updating the Council Corner, and eventually, we assigned two specific people to always be in charge of it. Secondly, I worked on finding out more about the display screens that were supposed to go up in the Widtsoe Building. I contacted Keven Williamson, who is manager of the project, and asked him about the project. Later on, I went to his office with Liz, and we talked with him about the situation. The project was a bigger deal than anyone in our college really knew, I suspect. And so, our committee decided not to pursue this project because of the new building.

            In addition to these main projects, I also worked on smaller projects with other members of the committee: I helped to advertise the Learning Center, put Choose to Give together and man a booth, and give counsel on the new building and college website. Overall, I think this was a very productive semester. Our committee accomplished many different projects over the course of the semester.

            As I was thinking of what I wanted to make my personal leadership goal at the beginning of the semester, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. But I kept having the thought that I should work on being more outgoing and social, that I should be more outspoken, contrary to my nature. I tried to push this thought away, but I couldn’t shake it. I knew it would be a hard thing for me to accomplish. Eventually, I made the decision to make it my goal anyway. And it’s amazing how things changed! More than any other semester at school, I have felt more outgoing and friendly to strangers, I have felt more a part of the college, I have made more friends and, overall, I feel better about myself. Looking back on the semester, I can only think of a few instances when I used my leadership goal specifically for council purposes. But I feel like I have grown tremendously as a person.

            I met a lot of people this semester, mainly in my classes, and I have used my goal to be more outgoing in order to lead some of my group projects. In addition, as I worked on my goal in council, during committee time, I voiced my opinion often and volunteered for projects. I think that as a result of this effort, my committee cohorts began to take me more seriously. Through working on my goal and meeting new people, I found it a lot easier to talk to them about council and hear their opinions about certain topics. I got feedback and gave information about the new building, different events happening through the college, and other issues.

            This goal has helped me to be more of a leader. I have recognized the importance of speaking up and meeting new people in being a leader. It is hard to be a good leader and be shy about things, not be willing to voice an opinion, and not make an effort to know who you are leading. Being on the council and having this leadership goal, with all of its new challenges, has been a wonderful experience.