Leadership is one of the three competencies areas of the Honors Program that we need to develop and improve during our time in the Honors Program. The concept of leadership for me is someone who guides a group of people in doing work, by connecting with each other and not just giving orders and looking at how the other people do the job without offering help. Someone who wants to develop leadership skills needs to be open-minded, helpful, and cheerful. By having these characteristics, they will be able to lead a team with great values and strength toward a common goal. As far as me as a person, I am a person who values fairness in the workplace, everyone should get what they work for. I am cheerful and with a little sense of humor because no work is done without joy. I want everyone to feel welcome in the workplace and enjoy what assignments and tasks they have to finish with responsibility. Being able to understand what leadership means, makes it easier for us to develop leadership skills, which we will be using in our future workplace, and it will have a huge impact on how we communicate and set boundaries with people in a professional environment.

 

Now let us talk about my experiences with leadership. Since joining Minnesota State University, I can say that I have had quite the experience in leadership. During the international orientation week for the school year 2022-2023, I was volunteering as a Peer Mentor for the new international students on campus. I was able to show them around our campus and direct them to the right buildings and offices. Being able to help international students is a huge thing and they are always thankful. I remember when I first was a new international student as them, and my Peer Mentor helped me. I am thankful that I was able to help my fellow friends the same way.

 

I am also a Peer Mentor for the College of Allied Health and Nursing. This way I am helping all freshman students that are part of this college to get to know the campus and providing resources where they can get the help they need. I will continue to do this for the whole school year and I feel grateful that I am able to help. Some other things I am doing are volunteering in a health organization on campus called Health PROs. We have meetings once a week and office hours once a week too. I have also done presentations in Health & the Environment classroom doing a Kahoot quiz and explaining the different forms of STD and how to be protected during sex in college.

 

I am also volunteering at Mayo Clinic Health Center as part of the STEPForce and Pain Medicine squad. My duties there are to deliver medicines from the pharmacy and to different departments around the hospital and to help patients come in and out of the hospital after their surgeries or when they have surgery scheduled. I plan on starting an internship in a nursing home as a Resident Assistant in my area, where I will be working hand-to-hand with patients and developing more in my major as a pre-occupational therapist.

 

Another leadership experience I was able to develop during my college life, is being board member of International Student Assosiation, where I served the role of secretary. This experience helped me connect better with other international students and I was able to gain a lot of friendships and meaningful connections which will be helpful to me in my work experience as a leader in the future. These experiences will help me understand better the concepts of leadership and help me grow in this competency area.