Alexandra Arriola
As a leader at Berkeley High, I define leadership as taking initiative and leading people by working together to get things done. A leader doesn’t just tell people what to do, rather they work with people, and allow them to come to their own conclusions and come up with ideas to help the community as a whole. Leaders are people who empower and encourage others to do well. Leaders work with others to complete certain goals or intended outcomes. Leaders create something new and inspire and influence others while doing so.
This year I observed students come together to safely participate in Unity Week and show their spirit for our school. I think this happened because we were given the opportunity to show our spirit, and we did it in a safe and responsible way to show the administration that our school might be able to participate in these kind of events once again. I suppose something similar to this happens outside of school such as the support for the sports teams that has increased recently. I know I, myself, had been attending more sports games such as the basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball games. The “who” is the student body, especially the upperclassmen. The “what” is showing spirit for our school by participating in Unity Week. The “when” was during Unity Week in October and the “why” is because we were given the opportunity by the school and the “how” is through dressing up every day of that week. I don’t know how I will apply this information in the future, maybe by safely participating in spirit events at college or other places outside of school. With all this in mind, I see leadership as not only one person taking initiative and leading others, but also, a whole group of people taking initiative to get what they believe they deserve, such as a Spirit Week at school.