By Anonymous
As a leader at Berkeley High, I define leadership as many things. To me, leadership is the ability to share your visions and the visions of those around you towards a greater good. A true leader takes into account the opinions of those around them, and looks out the majority over themselves. At Berkeley High, leadership is the connection between the student body and administration. Leadership is the ability to influence the people around you.
This was quite a year for me when it came to leadership. Being a leader is no easy task. There are so many ways a leader could be leading people or groups incorrectly or poorly. I personally have experienced this with one of the clubs I participate in where we had many issues regarding leadership roles. People are too often power hunger and one of the main good leadership qualities is to listen to others inputs and make decision that positively affect those around you, even when you are hindered. To be a good leader, you need to be honest and transparent about the decisions you are making.
Being on leadership during the November Hate Crime and the issues regarding racism at our school was difficult. As leaders of our school, we knew we needed to help, but we didn’t know to what extent. Many meetings happened discussing race, possible solutions, boundaries, frustrations and much more. Unfortunately, leadership at BHS, similar to the rest of the world, is predominantly white. That is something that needs change. Leadership should be about discussing issues with a diverse community so all voices are heard. In the future, I will try to diversify leadership roles in all possible aspects.
I have gained so much through my experiences as a leader and have learned a lot about people and how and how not to treat people. Like I stated earlier, leadership is not an easy task, yet it most definitely a rewarding task.