Community Leadership Legacy

 - Most powerful experience in the course…

My most powerful experience in leadership is probably most common: the Christmas Bureau family sponsorship. It's probably been repeated over and over in a lot of my peers' Legacies, but this project is just THAT special. Our entire class was given five families of different sizes, ages, and locations. Mr. Vaughan talked about each family and we were allowed to pick whichever family we wanted to help. I picked the smallest family which was a single mom and her 1 year old son. I think it might have just been the thought that a 1 year old wouldn't be able to spend his first christmas with presents and a nice dinner (even though he can't eat proper food yet). Also the single mom must have been having a tough time, taking care of a newborn baby and trying to provide for both. 

Planning with my group for the things we wanted to buy for them was also fun. After we called them, we only really needed to think about presents. Thinking of the gifts and hoping they would be happy made you feel nice about doing all of it. 

Meeting the family was brief but memerable. When we walked in, the lady was smiling so much, welcoming us into her house. We were a little awkward and shy, but had smiles upon our faces. She even let us hold her baby, who was as expected, adorable. When we gave our gifts, all she could do was say 'thank you'. She praised our class for stepping up to do this for families and was just overjoyed.

This experience was very special to me because I got to make someone else's Christmas special like mine has been every year.

- What I bring to the class dynamic…

I personally think that I brought my own creativity, organisation, and positive energy to this class. During group activities I tried to put in my own creative ideas and tried to make things work out nicely the way that the others would want.

- How I contribute to the class community…
I may not have been much of a public speaker in class, but when we went out to do our activities, I spoke out when needed and sometimes when others didn't. During the grade 8 retreat for one, I took charge a few time to organize and explain games. When we went around to classes to talk about our fundraisers and events, I would also try and speak up.

- How I’ve grown…
I think the way I've grown is not so much around my goal, which was public speaking, but that has improved quite a bit.

- New understandings about leadership…
In my opinion a leader is someone who's not afraid to start something new and state their opinion. A leader that can make those around him/her feel comfortable and free to express themselves. A leader is someone who shows others how to do something and pushes them in the right direction to lead something themselves. I think a leader is someone who can create a safe, free environment for others.

- Something that I’ve been working towards improving…
The "something" I've been wanting to improve on, until the end, is my public speaking. I feel a lot more comfortable to go up to a class and present our event we planned than actually standing up in class and presenting something. Maybe it's the fact that in class I know everyone and their abilities and in other classes, all I know is their grade. The type of public speaking I've improved in is a more informal type, so it's more comfortable to present. I don't think I'll ever get over my hate for presenting anything long that's really prepared and will be graded in the end, because the stress is probably what messes me up the most. Overall I think I've grown a bit with public speaking.

- My most memorable moment as a teacher…  As a learner…
My most memorable moment as a teacher will definitely not be the only one popping up on our Legacies. It was definitely the Grade 8 Retreat that we organized. This was one of the events I liked the most as well. First we got to play a whole bunch of fun games and then we showed and taught the grade 8s at their retreat. I think the most rewarding part was when they enjoyed it too and showed the same excitement you felt while playing the games. Seeing them laugh as they play makes you laugh as well and feel a little lighter at heart and make you comfortable. I think that was probably also why I was able to speak up so much that day.
My most memorable moment as a student might actually be when we went to God's Little Acres farm. I've, for one, never farmed before, and corn was not something I had seen anywhere else besides the super market. I think it was really cool that we got to experience what farming corn was like. How you had to make sure the corn wasn't too small and then having to twist and pull it down to get it off the plant. It was fun to walk around the corn with your friends and picking them. We would randomly start singing too because it was cold. At times they would start chucking corn at the bin and unfortunately some people got hit. I think the farm was a leaning experience for me because I did something I've never done before and won't easily get the chance to do again.

- My hero / mentor / icon (same or different now?)…
For me it's kind of hard to actually pick someone whom I look up to. There are so many inspiring people in the world who have improved it in their own ways. If there was a person that was a mix of all those people, I'd probably pick them. I don't think I can really pick one person as my hero. I just look up to those who actually step up to make a difference, it doesn't matter what it is for. Each and every one of those people deserve the positive attention they get, and there are probably so many other people just walking around in our neighbourhood that could be doing something just as great as them, but to in front of a camera. I myself look up to some of my peers as well when they help out at our events and speak up. My point is that I don't really have A hero, I have A LOT.

- Plans for continued growth as a leader…
This is hard for me to decide but for now all I can think of is volunteering and finding something I enjoy to do that helps others.