Going into LDR 101 at the beginning of the year and seeing as its ending in less than a week, it was not what I expected. I thought the class was going to be basic, outdated and maybe a little tone deaf to something regarding who I am as a person. Leadership class did nothing of the sort and up rooted all my preconceived notions of it. I learned many things about how society treats women more in depth, the type of leadership I have, and also how “kids” books maybe shouldn’t be meant for children. Leadership 101 has taught me that even though the picture may look finished doesn’t mean there’s not more to it. That everything has a reason for being told a certain way whether it was because personal life or historical context, of a specific author. Leadership teaches that nothing is just face value and to think as such will limit a new preservative that could have been open.
As stated before, I didn’t think highly of this class. I mean as a person who thought outside the box even if it was about something irrelevant to my current situation, I already had that down. I basically thought i had this class in the bag, but once I got into it, it was not what I was expecting at all. I learned that books I have once read have a way deep meaning to them that I could never even think of. Such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis having Christiany analogies and how gender plays a big part it this book as well. Like all the books we read and broke down had a rule in how people were portrayed based on gender. This was absolutely amazing that books I once read could covanty that deep of a meaning to kids who may not get it until later in life.
This course gave me a new perspective on how to look at the media as I go on. I consume a lot of fictional works and seeing it portrayed in not only why something is this way but how it impacted society in a gender structured way made it more understandable. That even if these books or other media ensure people are okay to think and act critically about it. It doesn’t mean hating it, but simply wanting it to be better in the future. This goes for the same for writing. LDR has taught me how to write better critical essays on subject matters that may seem niche at the moment. I wrote an essay about how Rue from the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins turned the ‘black girls are always confident and strong’ trope on it had along her to be a black girl who was soft and into ‘feminine’ things such as music. Writing in this class has made me feel as if my writing has gotten better as time went on. I feel a lot more confident in my writing even if it’s not the writing I typically do.
Between my writing and critical thinking getting better, my public speaking is becoming a lot more easier to handle. I’m still not as good with speaking in front of people with confidence but LDR has made me feel like people actually listen when I speak and not just ignore what I have to say. I still stubble my words and have a habit of talking with my hands, but I feel a lot more myself to things I have to say. Whether I’m cracking a joke about a character in a novel when we are reading or breaking down a scene, I feel as if I have something to say that is worth value in people’s eyes. Leadership has taught me that my voice can and should matter in discussions about gender in the media and how it can be portrayed no matter what race the character is.
Learning all these things in Leadership and applying that to the type of leader I am as a person is interesting within itself. I’m an automautos leader which typically means I do things my way and no other way at all. But LDR has taught me that even if I do it may way people still listen to what you have to say and can respectively understand why I thought that way to begin with. The way I write and critalize media has also taught me as a leader that even if I do things my way with little to no input, I can still think about how it could affect others around me. All of these skills have helped me become better in a way that I could not imagine myself happening.
In sum, LDR is a class that will and can teach students how to harness their inner leadership role with skills they would need for their future at college and out in the world. No matter how someone leads, the way you think about things and speak about them will ultimately determine how people will see you as a leader. LDR 101 is a class made to guide new students in college and more schools should offer this class to every freshman who arrives at college. Basic leadership skills should be taught and I’m happy I was able to take a class with a professor who help me find the inner leader in me with a little bit of critical thinking, writing and public speaking.
