Ignite your passion for leadership

I am very lucky to owe my personal growth during my college experience to a lot of amazing individuals who have made my four years at Saint Joseph’s University incredibly special. Two of these are people I was really lucky to start with. They were clad in red polos and khakis, and offered such warmth and excitement that I couldn’t imagine not being able to pass forward that same love. I was so sure that being an Orientation Leader was going to be my calling at St. Joe’s;  that was, until my interview didn’t go so hot, but the follow up feedback I received urged me to better showcase how I could be a leader.

Shortly thereafter, it came time to pick classes. Scanning through a list of possibilities, I happened to see a class called Perspectives on Leadership and concluded that this was going to be my tool. This was how I was going to transform into the girl who would rock her interviews. I fully, intentionally, and wholeheartedly believed all of this, of course, until Ronald Dufresne, Ph.D, professor of management, opened the class by saying that this class will not teach you how to be a leader. Despite the fact that wanting to be a leader had been my reason for signing up for the class, I stayed. The next day I chose to make my primary major Leadership, Ethics, and Organizational Sustainability (LEO). Both decisions have transformed the person I am every day since.

We come into our experience at St Joe’s and meet the concept of “go forth and set the world on fire” head on. We let this concept drive our pursuit of joining a team we once never heard of and now couldn’t imagine not being a part of. We let it ignite our relationships with community members in tiny, charming St. Paul, Va. on the Appalachain Experience (APEX) and with the kids at Gesu school that we’ve formed relationships with during weekly service. But we should be feeling just as ignited, just as passionate in the classroom. After all, though I sometimes forget, we are here to be students.

And while “student” can also include Philadelphia Service Immersion Program (PSIP) leader, Dean’s Leadership Program member, Student Senator, or Gaelic football player, what you’re putting in your brain while you’re here is important. For me, thanks to Perspectives on Leadership, that’s using “and” rather than “but” as much as possible for more effective and positive conversations. Because of Applied Sustainable Leadership, I know how to audit a firm and provide suggestions as to how they can become a benefit corporation. I can meet the business world with an ethics-focused lens thanks to Business, Stakeholders, and Ethics. Because of Organizational Sustainability, I know how we can work towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (think as big as alleviating poverty and world hunger). I’m nothing short of thrilled to keep building on all of these concepts, and to go forth and set the world on fire with what this phenomenal program has given me.