Leadership is inevitable to many of us

I am not a powerful person. I am a student working a minimum wage job or two, I am still learning how to do this whole life thing. I am also a role model; someone people look up to and count on. 

No matter where you are in life, freshman, senior, graduated, even teaching, you will always be less experienced than someone and you will always know more than someone else. 

Judging our teachers and bosses when they require us to do a thing we don’t like is easy. In a class, I recently learned about the Socratic method of teaching, asking questions to lead students to a certain answer. 

Were my teachers been doing this in every supposedly open class discussion? If they knew the answer, why not just tell us instead of forcing us to come up with their answer on our own? How did I know that their answer was even the right one? In short, I questioned everything I ever leaned, which was what my teacher wanted, making me even more confused and irritated. 

But how would I teach differently? Maybe the teaching styles or leadership styles that frustrate you are the most effective. 

When I take the time to put myself in the teacher or supervisor position, I can at least see why they chose the actions they did, even if I disagree with them. Besides, how would you lead differently?

This semester I began working as a peer mentor in the learning lab. When I came in freshman year, I was dissatisfied with the assistance I received from the tutors I came to for help. Now I am the person trying to help my peers get the most out of their learning experience. When working with students now, I can try to help them feel more at ease because I know what it is like to be in their shoes. I still remember how it felt to have my work reviewed by a stranger. Every day we are learning techniques our teachers and bosses use, some we will like and some not so much. Whether we learn what we like or what we hate, we can use that information to be better than our predecessors were. 

I looked up to my camp counselors as a kid. They were good at everything, nice to everyone, they had life figured out. Then one day I was the councilor and a half dozen second graders expected me to know all the answers to their plethora of questions. 

Leaders are those who take time to care even when they don’t have time. Just a few years ago I was an unsteady freshman leaning on the support of my upperclassmen friends. 

Now I can help younger students find their feet in college. Right now, you could take the time to reach out and support someone. You might be a freshman, but you could help mentor high school students, or let someone with a difficult roommate hang out in your room. You can be a leader among your peers. 

As the cliché goes, don’t judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Who are the people you admire, the ones you look at and aspire to be like, or who irritate you the most?

 What happens when you become that person, when you are the role model for those younger, or less experienced than you? 

Remember the experiences you have now, positive or negative and learn from them when you become the teacher. 

Be a leader among your friends now, and don’t judge your superiors too harshly, you may be them one day.