The Fundamentals

Part One

Currently at Ohio State I am not involved in any leadership communities; however, I have been volunteering for consecutive years in the past to help the community around my high school (Marion-Franklin) and the local elementary school (Watkins Elementary) with mostly tutoring and other academic related jobs. I and a few other Marion-Franklin alumni help tutor students at the high school who are in need of an academic boost and in a way; the students tend to be more engaged in learning from a tutor who can be seen as an actual peer.

The people that I work with can be seen as optimistic, joyful, and overall go-getters. With such positivity within the group there is never a pessimistic feeling. As I think about it, the people in the group empower others in many ways. For instance, not only do they help tutor kids, but they also give personal “pep talks” surrounding outside circumstances. Many of them encourage students to go beyond their limits and though many of the students that the group tutors feel insecure, they still show faith in their pursuit of change. When it comes to decision making and eliciting feedback, the members in the group are not hesitant to speak. As a prime example, there’s a girl named Vivian in the group that not only encourages others but she goes beyond her ways to help. I’ve known numerous times where Vivian has made rash but important decisions to help those in need. She gives money to help those who are less fortunate and as I’ve noticed before, many people run to her for her knowledgeable insight and commentary. Also, when it comes to shared power and authority, we all play our own role and know the positions we stand. There may be times where one of us knows more than the other but we only hint suggestions of what we would do in a certain circumstance…rather than take complete charge.

Overall, the small community of people I work with introduces change by providing positive outlooks for students in the education system with a way to help improve their current standing. Not only are we helping students perform academically stronger, but we are empowering them to realize that they are capable of doing more with the help of guidance. With the work that we do, we are implementing change by doing tasks that other people wouldn’t do if asked. As a group, we are here to help and encourage the roots from where we came from.

Part Two

The ability to help others is different from one individual to the next. One person might have a stronger approach and one may be more subtle. However, we all reach the same goal of impacting someone else’s life. As I think about the attempt to nurture hope and optimism in those around me, well, that can be a hard task. However, my ability to help others conquers that doubt. I’m a very optimistic person to begin with, so the attempt to show others that life is more important than a few mistakes isn’t that hard. I’ve caught myself telling others that though things may be horrible now, life gets better after you learn to forget. I guess my way to spread optimism is by expressing words and a sense of caring for others, and when it comes to nurturing hope, my positive attitude helps strengthen those around me. When you think about it, nurturing hope and optimism is important to leadership because these are the foundations to what makes a good leader. The ability to have a heart, positivity, and compassion for others is what leadership strives for and this is the reason why I think they are very important J