Blog#9-Reflection on class

As the semester went on, I learned many new types of leadership styles and how to utilize them in todays society. I thought being a leader meant standing out for yourself and try to impact the way others do specific things, for example vote towards a specific political party, everyone is going to have different views but you're going to think your own views are shaped to be the best and influence others to sway your way, in which this type of leadership style is what I reflected leadership as a whole. Although, I learned many different other ways to be a leader like Enabling Others To Act by creating conversations between others that lead to different ideas for a specific subject; like if you're working on a group project, everyone's input should be included because everyone has different ideas that can shape a great project. With those great ideas, that carries into Encouraging the Heart which is another type of leadership that is used in many different influences around the world. There is always one person that sticks out in doing this and every team needs this. When a team faces adversity, they need that person to step up and say "We can do this, keep up the hard work." Because just those few words can go a long way and influence people in a positive way.

As Encouraging the Heart plays a huge affect in a leadership quality, it also leads to impact of Modeling the Way, which is probably one of the most important leadership qualities I learned in the whole class. Every leader has a goal in mind, a man on a mission as some people call it and they're so set on achieving this goal that the ambition of achieving this goal reflects the way others work towards it. When analyzing a team, one person stands out over others and speaks out on their beliefs and how things should be done, like the organizer or manager of the team. They make sure everything is on track and being done properly to achieve the goal. I believe this is the most important quality to have in a leadership style because without the one person that just has the drive to achieve something, it makes feel impossible to achieve anything. Everyone wants that one person that will tell it how it is, the way things need to be done in order to create something of themselves.

Overall I learned a lot of new things about leadership that I didn't know and how to use them in the future. I believe all the qualities I mentioned will make a great leader, sometimes it's hard to find a leader with every quality that constitutes a great leader. I hope later on down the road I can use these qualities at my future job and interviews to help shape me as a better person. I think learning these new qualities will really help how I overview myself as a person and help me be a better person. Having an impact on someone else's life in a positive way will change your perspective on life and as a person. Although, it's sometimes tough to answer certain questions in class, I do believe I have many things to say that will help reflect who I truly am as a leader, it's just tough wording everything you have to say at once and hard to speak on certain topics.  

Peck's Theory

A community that I was once apart of that explains Peck's theory well is the assisted living place I volunteered at called Emeritus. I volunteered there my senior year of high school, in which I had to interact with elderly people and teach them new things before their last days come to an end. My goal as a volunteer was to bring the people together and make sure that they're enjoying what time they have left. This relates to the first part of Peck's Theory which I see as forming groups and reviewing the certain dynamics they proceed. Being able to create this community and bring more elderly people together and make friendships is the main concept behind the theory. Helping older people can be difficult at times because of all the different medical conditions they have gone or are going through. My teacher encouraged me to take on the challenge and form a relationship amongst the people. I ended up creating a huge project that made the people of Emeritus interact more and gave the folks enjoyment that they don't get to see everyday.

The form of enjoyment that I provided them with was a fashion show, in which many different students from my high school came to Emeritus and dressed up in nice Dresses and Tux's. This provided entertainment for the older people and created more friendships throughout the whole place. I specifically remember seeing the main guy I normally visited weekly named Warren laughing with one of his neighbors which created a sense of joy for me on the inside because I knew he was happy.

These people did have times where they were really stressed in certain situations and didn't know how to handle it properly. This describes the second part of Peck's Theory because when these people act out, they can't control their actions and it causes many issues. In the sense that arguing over little things causes certain corruption but depending on the person or the environment you're surrounded by indicates your actions. When the elderly people would play trivia, we would always have to keep track of points so the people could get prizes. When the question is asked you had a little buzzer to click, which causes a large amount of drama. Certain people would think they got the answer first and argue about it for hours, in order to keep the peace we gave them both points. This destroys the forming part of Peck's Theory because our goal was to bring joy to the people and hopefully help them meet new people. The prices really kept the people calm but there were times where elderly people left the room very un-happy.

In my final days at Emeritus, I went around the whole place and asked all the people what they're favorite memories have been here and most of them have replied with "moments with you." This made me feel great because I was able to provide these people with a sense of care and let them know that their last moments are ones to cherish. I also helped create more relationships around the place and brought more people together. The advisor of the place said I did a great job at volunteering and she said when my friend and I would come the place would light up. She also stated that we did a lot of good for these people in their last moments and gave them something to hope for. This part is all about the third part of Peck's Theory in bring these people together and creating relationships. The third part is all about the group dynamics and how well you can form a community into one strong one. Being able to utilize Peck's Theory in many situations can be helpful, I believe the memories I made at Emeritus showed the theory well, especially in the sense of bringing people together and showing connections you can have with others.

Blog#7

The main target identities that really bring a lot to mind when looking at the outside world is race and gender. Gender in our society is something that can be a big deal to many people. Obviously many people who are feminists are pushing for more rights for Women and trying to make equality equal amongst men and women. Many different types of people have problems with women making certain types of income they make. Typically, the average salary for a guy is more than the average salary for women. I don’t believe the values that represent our society are necessarily fair in this case. If you go to college and work hard to get a degree, then gender shouldn’t matter in disputing for a job, but sometimes certain jobs are more fit for men and the same way with women. Although, the main issue is women trying to find jobs compared to men. On the average, you’re more likely to get a job because you’re male if you fit the qualities. This issue has taken off in our society, but I believe equality has been fair since back in the old days. There are plenty of women that are making great money and ranked in some of the highest political positions in the world, which is some of the most important jobs you can have. Although, switching the subject over to race, I believe this is still the main issue in our society. I've witnessed people get kicked out of restaurants because of their skin color. Now I am not the one to judge but I thought racial problems were in the past? I don’t think someone should be neglected because of their skin color; they’re people just like us and happen to shape our society just like whites. Although, it’s our responsibility as people to be respectful and not make a fool out of us when sensitive subjects are brought up. It depends on what type of person you are, what you believe in and that’s what will judge with your position on racial terms but don’t let someone influence what you think because of the way someone else appears.

A non target identity that fits with these two target identities are police officers. Police officers affect what people do in their everyday life because they’re the law enforcement. They provide safety for the people and control the way the law that is inflicted on people. When certain activities like riots about race or riots about gender in-equality are taking place, they control the situation but also control the way certain people act. Normally if there is a riot about race, African Americans tend to act out against the police and this is because these people are just trying to get a message across and the police enforce violence on pleasant social movements. These kinds of things are why race in-equality still exists in our world. Also, when social movements for feminists are taking place violence isn’t used as much and this right here shows how in-equality is taking place between both target identities.  

Blog #6

I learned many new things about myself after I did the Leadership Performance Inventory. My highest rating on the score list was a 28 for Encouraging the Heart, which is what I envy in leadership. Being able to be supportive and help others accomplish a goal is big key on reflecting yourself as a leader. When the class was participating in the activity where our some of our classmates were blindfolded, I provided strategic ways on how to get around the chairs and guided him with encouraging words to get the utensil. I realized that working as a team and giving advice in a good manner really shapes how well your leadership style can be developed. But this is something that should be done everyday because it makes us better as people; saying thank you when you respect what someone has done. It can change how you live your life in a positive way and help provide other people that surround you with encouraging minds and bravery to go get their dreams. I took a lot away from this last class and learned a lot about how I can be a better leader and person. Strategic was one of my top strengths so being able to provide different ways on how to accomplish tasks didn't surprise me but I most importantly learned how to provide better leadership to people.

Random Act of Kindness

                 

For my random act of kindness, I helped a friend achieve a goal on the decline bench that he has never done before. He always talked about how he can never go up to the weight he wants to because he never has a spotter. At the gym, I decided to help him and give him a spot on the bench to help him achieve the desired weight he wanted. I also motivated him as he was doing his reps and gave him some advice to push himself to the limit. Once he was done on the bench, he ended up getting his goal and then some, he did ten reps instead of six. After he was done, he got up with excitement and gave me a high five and told me he couldn't of done it without me. I was glad to see that he shattered his goal and that I was able to motivate him to do so. It's such an accomplishing moment when you hit a stride in the gym that you never thought you would. The leadership I provided in this act really helped a friend see some big results and the fact I was able to provide this discipline to do so and see a friend happy is a great feeling. Being a spotter is an important job and it insures that someone won't damage themselves in certain ways; you can never be too careful on using proper form and having a spotter. I thought this was a great opportunity to provide a leadership example for my random act of kindness and to see a friend succeed.

Blog 4-Moral Muteness

I am sure everyone in their lives has come to a point where they have to be mute about a situation. Back in high school, I never use to be the strongest or the biggest or the fastest but that’s okay because I let my hard work speak for itself. I didn’t really start lifting weights until I was a senior in high school, so I use to be really small and not weight that much. One day I basically decided that I don’t want to be small anymore and I am tired of people making fun of me for it so I did something about it. People looked down on for me for that. It use to tear me up inside when I knew other kids were stronger then me and they gave me grief for it, but I never use to say anything because I knew one day all my hard work would pay off and people would look at me different. I have gained about 37 pounds of muscle since I have graduated high school and every time my old friends see me now, they compliment me on the hard work I’ve put it in the weight room to get stronger and the others that use to give me grief just act astounded when I approach them.

In the sense, this hard work I have put in has helped shaped my value well, hard working and Humble. As much as I always wanted to say something about the grief, I never did because I know the person I am. In the terms of being morally mute, I just let myself be quite and let my results in the weight room to be the one to speak up. All the people that doubted me, I should be thanking; because if I never made the decision to really get into lifting then my body wouldn’t have transformed into what it is now and I am proud from the results I have seen. Now, at Ohio State I am really into nutrition and that’s what I am going to be doing for the rest of my life, which I love. Being morally mute at this time in my life has really shaped me into an overall better person today. It helped me develop the values of hard work and humbleness, in which are two great values to have in being a leader.  

Blog #3

My first quiz I took, I chose to take the Weapons IAT. My outcomes displayed that I tend to moderately associate blacks with weapons and white with harmless objects, 30% was the value. I found these results to actually be quite surprising because I didn’t tend to favor either side I just took the quiz and these were my results. It’s surprising to me because I am not the one to judge based on race. I am that person that quotes “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and the color of your skin doesn’t depict whether you carry a dangerous weapon or not. People do carry weapons for protection and I believe that is okay but to judge someone as “dangerous” because they look different represents what is wrong with our society. This quiz really opens my eyes because maybe I say I don’t judge but I could possibly be portraying this judgment with my actions. It’s our job as people to make everybody feel comfortable with our society; that’s why it’s called the land of the free. Our society and me (personally) need to do a better job of not discriminating because of race and treat everybody equally (The Golden Rule.) You don’t know what someone could be going through; so don’t be afraid to say, “Have a good day” to anybody because it could turn someone’s mood around.

On the second quiz, I chose to take Gender-Career IAT test. My results didn’t shock me as much on this quiz as it did on the first one. The outcomes showed that I moderately associate Male with Career and Female with Family, 32% was my value. Growing up, I didn’t have much because my parents were in a growing economy and neither of them had college degrees. My parents worked really hard on providing for my brother and I; they always made sure we had food in our stomachs and a roof over our head to keep us warm. My dad, at the time was making more money than my mom, in which seeing him as the male figure of the house and my brother and I saw him as role model, it made sense; but that doesn’t take away from what my mom did for us. She is the most kind hearted woman out there and I couldn’t be more blessed to have a mom who made sure we were always loved, always there when we needed her and always made sure we stayed on top of things for school. Those things she did represents what family stands for particularly the mother’s role in a family. I don’t think these roles are permanent, I am sure there are dads out there who play the mother role and mom’s out there that play the dad role. After my parents split up, my mom ended up being more successful then my dad, but they both make great money now because they worked hard and kept their heads high even when times were rough; they’re both my inspiration. In the sense that I don’t want to struggle like they did when I was young, but also in the sense that they’re drive brought them to the people they are today. My parents are the sole reason I am at THE Ohio State University and I can’t thank them enough for that. Thanking them for being my inspiration, to keep me going and get a degree. I love my mom and dad more than anything in the world and I’m glad their experiences guided to be where I am today.

On my last quiz, I chose to take the Age IAT test. My results tended to bring a little shock to me but not too much. I inclined more towards young people; it said I have a strong preference for Young people compared to Old people, my value was 35%. I am very good at interacting with people and getting along, that’s why I chose to take this class. In high school, I had to take a class called Perry Service Learning, in which the class was rounded around helping the community and giving back to others. One of our objectives for this class was to volunteer, in which you had to have 4 hours of volunteering per week to get an A. I chose to volunteer at an Assisted living place called Emeritus, in which I had to interact with old people and play trivia games and just talk about life. I built a lot of strong relationships with these old people and made a lot of friends; but no friendship was made like the one I made with my friend Warren at the assisted living place. I liked building friendships with these old people but I found myself really loving to go back because of the relationship I built with him. He was like my second grandpa; he always knew how to make laugh and we talked about everything including war, girls, sports ect.  We always ate together, played games; I would take him on walks outside in his wheel chair and he would always whistle at the girls. The friendship I built with Warren was very important me because I never knew volunteering with elderly people would have such a big impact on my life. I learned so much from Warren and I am really thankful for that. Without this experience, I wouldn’t have been able to realize the impact I can have on other people lives. My teacher always gave me good feedback and told me the people at Emeritus love when I come. Most importantly, I won’t forget the impact Warren had on my life, he changed me and made myself a better person and I was really sad to hear that he wasn’t there to see me graduate high school; it killed me inside and I knew I just lost one of my best friends; but I knew the impact I had on his life was great while it lasted but what he doesn’t know is he changed my life forever. I’ll never have a friend like Warren and I am really grateful I got the experience I did with Warren and Emeritus.

I guess being in college and being surrounded by students that are nearly the same age as me, suggests that I prefer younger to older people but you can’t let one test depict who you are. I’m good with young and old people and I have had great experiences with both. I’ll always remember my college experience when I graduate and all the friends I made and how much fun I had; but none of these friendships have had the impact on my life then my experience at Emeritus has.

I learned a lot from all these quizzes and I think all of them could be useful to teach someone something about himself or herself.