Michael Kusi

Sept 15 2005

If I was to choose two instances when I learned most about being a leader, what would these two instances be?

When I went to NSLC from Aug 2 to Aug 12 I learned about being a leader. First, I will describe the speech that we had to do on Aug 11, and prepared for from Aug 3 rd to Aug 14. Next, I will be describe All Out, an activity that I did on Aug 11. In both of these activities, I learned about leadership and the characteristics be a leader. I also learned how to go on in spite of your fears and anxieties, because a leader must be able to conquer his fears in order to motivate other people. The speech that my group had to do from Aug 3rd to Aug 14th took a lot of time and patience. First, we met in a classroom and had to read a selected passage. Then my group had to vote on who we wanted to go and say the speech. When it was my turn, I tried to do as good a job as possible because I did not want to mess up or fail. I tried to put as much emotion into it as I could and many people said that my performance was good. I went up there nervous, but I was determined not to let my nervousness take control of me. I spoke as loud and as clear as I could, without screaming. Then we had to vote, and I was chosen to do the main body. The next days, we had to do research on the topics and on the first day, we didnt get much research done, but in the next four days, my group began to put together the speech. We finished, and I had to put together all the information. Finally, the day came, and I had to go onto stage. I was nervous at first, and I picked up the microphone. Then I thought that I did not need it, so I put down the microphone and began to speak. I saw that people were beginning to go to sleep and I was afraid that people would go to sleep. So I spoke as loud and as expressive as I could to wake people up. I tried to be emotional and loud, and so people listened to what I had to say. I learned that leadership is about stepping up and doing what you have to do when people are counting on you to do your responsibilities. Leadership is also about taking charge when you are responsible for a group of people and not letting your fears override what you have to do.Finally, the All Out activity

also taught me about leadership and the characteristics of a leader. The NSLC students went into the auditorium and sat down, and Ms. Jackson, the director of NSLC, spoke about leadership and told us that whoever wanted to speak was free to speak. I thought to myself that I wasnt going to speak because she did not make it mandatory for us to speak. One by one, I saw many people go up and talk about their experiences, and many of them cried. I was determined not to go up there, because I did not want to cry in front of the NSLC. My roommate, went up there, and to my surprise, he cried. He then sat down and asked me if I wanted to go up there and I said no. He said Why not, I went up there. I said that I didnt want to go because I had nothing of importance to say and besides, she said if you wanted to go up there, you could. Then he called me a pussy and told me that everyone was going up there and so I might as well go up there too. After 10 or 15 minutes of telling me, I finally decided to go up there, but by the time I got up there, the time was up. I learned that leaders should not be afraid to show emotion, because leaders are people too, and that leaders should conquer their fears.

I learned a lot about leadership during this time. In the Ropes Challenge Course, I learned that leaders should conquer their fears and try out new things. In the Leadership Box, I learned that leaders should speak up if they want to be heard. In the speech, I learned that leaders should be able to take responsibility for the group and to complete their tasks. Finally, in the All Out activity, I learned that leaders should not be afraid to show emotion.