Reflection

This past year in rec leadership has been great! This class had definitely helped me overcome how shy I used to be. Everyone in class was just so kind and it was never a problem speaking out during group discussions for me. I've also got to know that I actually really like volunteering and will do much more of it in the summer and following grad year. Rec leadership gave me so many opportunities to help others run events which I feel so proud of. I was glad I got to do many volunteering outside the school like the Willowbrook shopping mall night, the hockey tournament and the Run-Up for Down Syndrome. They were such amazing events and I was glad to be apart of them. This year has just been so much fun and I'm glad I took Rec Leadership this year. I even ask muself why I didn't take it sooner! It was a great year and it won't be the same without you Crowley!

Initiative

The best leaders are proactive. They don't wait for someone else to tell them what to do. They just take the initiative to find and solve problems and to meet and create challenges. There are plenty of people out there who always do as they are told. One of the first things we are taught as kids is to always follow directions. For the most part, we are good at following these instructions. However, the trait that makes the individual stand out from the crowd is initiative. It distinguishes a leader because it's not just about doing what is told, but rather finding new ways to do more. If a leader's job is to build progress, then initiative is how that progress can be built.

Patience

Patience is one of the key qualities in leadership. Many people don't really have this quality. It's quite hard to be patient with some people. For example teachers! No one has as much patience as teachers have. They deal with so many kids from all ages and that's not easy. Having patience shows what kind of person you are as well. No one wants a leader who doesn't have any patience because sometimes it just takes time to get things done.

Character

Character is such a central, important element of leadership. Character shapes how we engage the world around us , what we notice, who we engage in conversation, what we value, what we choose to act on, how we decide... and the list goes on. Character says a lot about a person. It's basically your whole personality. There's not just one definition for character as it says a lot about you. Character focuses on personality traits, values, and virtues, which are all things we look for in a good leadership role.

Humility

Humility is a modest or low view of one's own importance or in other words, humility means to be humble. Being humble is being modest. Someone who doesn't brag about themselves and isn't so conceited. As teenagers we do struggle to be humble most of the time. When we accomplish something, we have the tendency to brag and show off about it. The proper thing to do would be to show humility and keep those emotions in check. A good thing to keep in mind on showing humility would be, "one person's feat is another's defeat." This quote basically means that even though one person has success, another person may be struggling to find that success in their own lives.

Attitude

Attitude is a way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. Our attitude is always drastically changing based on our own feelings towards something or someone. A person’s attitude can change from positive to negative at any given moment. As imperfect humans, we respond to things in our day with attitude. Some things make us happy and other things make us mad. Our attitude is directly reflected on the way we act. A person’s attitude can change the whole course of how their day plays out. Attitude also shows people what kind of person you actually are, I mean if you have a bad attitude all the time, you wouldn't really be a fun person to be around whereas if you have a good and positive attitude all the time, people would want to be around you.

Gratitude

Gratitude to me is being in the moment and acknowledging the love and happiness all around me. It's being thankful and grateful for something. Basic acts of gratitude can simply be saying “please” or “thank you”. Showing gratitude can be viewed as respectful, and is a very good characteristic to have. When we were all little kids, we all struggled with showing gratitude and always had to be reminded to be grateful for the little things in life. Gratitude also keeps us all humble. An example where we would all show gratitude would be thanksgiving. It's a feast day which is also in celebration of all we've got to be thankful for. Gratitude is a very mature characteristic and the ability to show gratitude can bring you one step closer to becoming a responsible adult.