At the age of 18 months old I was officially adopted from Guatemala and brought to Michigan, where I would live and grow up with my new adoptive parents and brother. I know that this has immensely shaped the course of my life. Because of my parents I was able to attend a good, private school from kindergarten on, and thus go onto acquire a college education from another Christian institution. Because of this I was able to live a relatively comfortable life surrounded by people who love and support me. Unfortunately, I know that this is not the reality for all children. Because I know how drastically different my life would be if I had never been adopted, I want to use what I learn here at Calvin to help others, especially children, who do …show more content…
While I had an unspoken bond with other minority students-most who were also adopted-that was it. In my fourteen years of school, pre-college, I never once had a teacher that knew how it felt to be a minority. The only close-friend who could relate, I would meet in third grade, but would leave before we finished middle school-due to her mother not liking how she felt in this town. Because of these feelings of isolation I endured growing up, I know value the work people do to make sure schools, workplaces, and all other communities are communities of inclusion. Therefore, as a social worker, I will work to make sure marginalized people are never made to feel as I have felt. I believe it is extremely important to give people equal opportunity and resources, so they can flourish just like God intended. While I do not know what organization or job God will lead me to, I know that I want to use my career as a social worker to help all people. I want to be a part of the movements against racism, sexism, and other attempts at marginalizing people. God has created everyone equal and so I want to use my education to make sure this happens to children, families, the homeless, women, and anyone else who is not always treated justly. To be an active and effective participant in social changes, I need to a leader. Through my life experiences and time here at Calvin, learning in classes and from professors and peers, I’ve learned that there are many different types of
It was during the school desegregation process that I actually began to interact with those who looked like me because now there were others who did not look like me. Feeling more comfortable with my own kind, I forced myself to become a part of a group of peers who seemed to have a great deal in common. Being accepted into this group was perhaps the most difficult task to date as I had never been forced to communicate with others before. Questions about my home, siblings, parents and sporting activities were the norm. I even became close friends with a first cousin
It is evident that Schulich Leaders are individuals who possess the ability to leave an impressionable impact on their school and beyond. Throughout my educational pathway, I have consistently dedicated my time and effort for the greater good of my fellow students, staff, and community members. I have always been naturally inclined to lead individuals, as it gives me the opportunity to express and develop my capabilities as an exemplary role model. Particularly, I demonstrate these characteristics through a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs, where my tendency to propose, carry out, and offer insight on the issues at hand never goes unnoticed. Due to the fact that I am a diligent and thoughtful individual who never rests until my endeavours materialize lends to the notion that I will undoubtedly make an outstanding Schulich Leader.
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others” according to Bill Gates, while John Maxwell tells people that “Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.” Neither of them completely capture leadership, but at the same time, neither of them are wrong. To be a leader, one must empower and influence those they lead in order to get the results they want. Neither one mentions that a leader must be confident in themselves and show others that they are confident with the decisions they make for themselves and others. As president of the Italian National Honor Society at my school, it is my job to promote excellence in the course, as well as in the community. Since our society values giving back to the community, we put an emphasis on community service. Many of the other students in the society worried about completing their hours. I showed them that they did not need to worry about getting their service hours by completing all of my required hours for both National and Italian Honor Societies before the end of November.
There are some however, that look to enact positive change on the world and not just themselves. These individuals seek change for the betterment of others, the community and their society. These people who work tirelessly to make the world a better place are perceived, in my mind, as leaders. Although every leader has their own leadership style or technique, it is important to understand that all great leaders have an end goal of change and making an impact in the community around them. In order to do so, a leader must be able to understand the purpose of their group, organization, or cause. I believe great leaders inspire action by running their organizations through actively working towards the purpose of the group. This notion is further cemented by a quote that I live by, “a boss says, go, a leader says, let’s go.” My leadership experiences have advanced the Greek Life community in a number of ways. Through my leadership, we were able to expand our Kinnick Recycling community service project by working with more organizations both inside and out of FSL, expand education and awareness regarding sexual assault and bystander awareness, educating the community about Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and creating bridges between Iowa City Police and Fraternity men by establishing an annual philanthropic softball game between the two, just to name a
A leader takes diligent time in considering the ability to adhere to other people’s interests and presents their followers with a positive mindset. This summer, I accepted an invitation to participate in the Dale Carnegie Young Adult Leadership Program. Attendees of this program learned several skills that can be applied to future experiences, especially on how to become an effective leader. Everyday, the attendees acted as leaders by accomplishing various tasks that forced them to reach out of their comfort zones. We acted as leaders by leading group
I can become a change agent in this situation because I can help update the program to encourage more students to become leaders. I have the intuition to bring success to the camp and improve who will become my future classmates. Lastly, I can express my leadership through getting a job on-campus. Jobs allow you to gain experience and work your up to a leadership position. I believe jobs are the best way to learn valuable lessons of leadership like the fact that it takes effort to progress in this society and that there is an aspect of
When I was about seven years old, my family made the decision to move from the Philippines to the United States of America. This was a difficult choice to make for my parents, because my father could not come along due to the way immigration is set up in the USA. However, after my mother became an American citizen, she was given the right to bring my father over to the United States after nine long years. In addition, my two sisters along with my mother, were unable to see my father during those nine years. In essence, this was by far the most impactful event that happened during the early stages of my childhood, and this has given me the strength to persevere and mold my character.
As a college freshman at Georgia State University, I was most influenced to take part of the Panther L.E.A.P. (Leadership, Engagement, Achievement, and Pride) Program. The Panther L.E.A.P. Program is a residential leadership program at Georgia State University for students considering working in the residential halls on the school campus. The program was to focus on “Social Change Model for Leadership Development.” As a first-time college student, I completed the Panther L.E.A.P. Program in my second semester of attending Georgia State University, and it has been my all-time favorite program thus far at the college. The program was formed to teach students at Georgia State University an updated version of the social change model. The L.E.A.P. Program was divided into different learning modules, and it was a three-month training session for the college students. Each student who attended the program had to complete the different session dates throughout the program time. With that being, I so much fun being part of the Panther L.E.A.P. Program because we did community service work, attended
In the past few decades college sports have grown immensely in popularity nationwide, especially when the bigger events such as March Madness and the College Football National Championship arise. Even though the NCAA considers themselves to be a non profit organization, March Madness is such a huge event that in 2011 the NCAA made an agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System to let them broadcast the games until 2024 for $10.8 billion, but during March Madness they make almost $800 million every year from jersey, ticket, and product sales ("Revenue"). Depending on how far some of the colleges go these universities could make an extra few million also. None of the money the colleges or the association makes is given to the student athletes. They are the ones that work so hard to help bring in all of the revenue for their schools and the NCAA but get nothing in return. Besides bringing in revenue for their school if they prove that they are a good collegiate school it will make high school students look further into their school and potentially attend that university. According to the NCAA for any student athlete to be eligible and still be considered amateur they are not allowed to receive salary for participating in any athletic program nor are they allowed to be given prize money above necessary expenses, ("Amateurism") However a common view is that college athletes should not be paid because most of them already receive a free education and get
As children, we are encouraged to be leaders; to be people that make a difference in the world and have the courage to be catalysts for change. Being on Howard University’s campus allows one to witness first hand this embodied virtue of leadership. Taking action both on and off campus, students exemplify leadership through their ability to organize and seek reform in order to truly embody the essence of the “Mecca” as well as serve and inspire the greater community around us.
I have had many life experiences which have helped me foster an understanding of diversity. When I was in the military I was stationed in South Korea and I experienced diversity on a major scale. For once in my life I was considered the minority. However, the strongest experience I have with diversity was growing up with a mother with a developmental disability, this life experience taught me to be accepting of others. It is a social worker’s primary responsibility to respect the inherent dignity and worth of a person. I believe that I had this social work value instilled in me when I was a child. From a young age, I have been very accepting of people with disabilities in the local community. The exposure to this world has also influenced
Adoption for a child waiting is the biggest gift of all and gives them a family they never imagined having. Envision being that person who gives them a sense of security, identity, belonging and a forever home. There are around 428,000 children in foster care in the United States, while only around 135,000 are adopted each year. More than 60% of children in foster care spend 2-5 years before being adopted, while some never get adopted. In 2014-15 just 0.5% of Australian children hoping for adoptive families were given a home. The average age of children waiting for adoptive families is 8. These are statistics that just break thousands of hearts. Many children put up for adoption have experienced abuse, neglect or a trauma in their birth families. This can cause emotional, behavioural and developmental problems. People often debate about nature versus nurture and which has more impact on childhood development. However, analysis demonstrates that children with adoptive families behave and develop the same way as those being raised by biological parents. By being that family who gives that child a home, you have given them a gift bigger than life. The chance for a child to have a family, get an education, and be able to do what they desire and pride themselves in being adopted. After all, children are children no matter their background. Adopting one child will not change the world, but for that child, the world will
I grew up in a loving and somewhat sheltered environment. My parents made my adoption seem like a grand fairytale, and they were my happy ending. To them, adoption made me more special than the average kid, causing me to never think twice about my beginnings. I was the miracle child who brought joy to everyone I met. As a child, people would
All of the changes we as a society have adjusted to over the past few decades have created revolutionary milestones for our everyday lifestyles and habits. Thanks to these advancements, we are also given a glimpse of what our society may become in the near and distant future. One of the most evolutionary aspects to today’s society is the cell-phone. As of today, our society most definitely takes the idea of cell-phones for granted, since they are now so easily accessible and common. But cell-phones weren’t nearly as useful and convenient to society decades ago. Throughout the nearly seventeen years of my life, I have observed how much society has improved technologically. How cell-phones became such an important part of our everyday lives is the idea that I am most curious about.
As a child, I remember growing up in an area of Atlanta, Georgia called Mechanicsville. This area was very diverse with people from various socioeconomic backgrounds. Often, my mother would share valuable life lessons with my siblings and me. One, in particular, I remember even to this day is, “Life is only as challenging or motivating as you make it”. Originally, I did not quite understand the purpose of this aphorism; but as I got older, the meaning became quite clear. Although life for me has been both wholesome and unhealthy, in hindsight, it seemed better than my childhood friends. If you knew the real story, you would see that my life is not as perfect as it appears. Just to provide you with a little insight into my world, I had a