While sitting on top of a twenty-foot log, I felt the cold mountain wind graze the sides of my face. My body slowly shifted its weight on the surface area of the log as my heartbeat quickened. I peered down at the belay teams below me; one team held a blue rope while the other held a purple one. The two ropes were connected to the harness that hugged my hips and chest which kept me from falling.
After a moment of panic and self-assessment, I jumped off and was safely lowered to the ground by the belay teams.
You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this: What’s the importance of me detailing this experience on a log? For some it may not seem important; however, for the first-year students in the Pioneer Leadership Program (PLP), this activity meant a lot to their leadership development and self-discovery.
During the first weekend of October, the 88 first-year PLP students traveled to The Nature Place in Florissant, Colorado for a two-day retreat. The retreat consisted of high-rise and low-rise rope courses, lessons for personal reflection and activities planned by PLP staff and second-year students. The retreat served as a way for students to push their boundaries, to connect with students they wouldn’t normally talk to and to grow individually as leaders.
Before leaving for the trip, we were posed with a question: Are leaders born or made?
There are thousands of YouTube videos on how to be a more effective leader, hundreds of books on being a better communicator and several different collegiate programs teaching development skills as part of leadership minors. Therefore, it’s suggested through media and our education system that leaders can be made.
However, it can also be believed that leaders are a mixture of predetermined characteristics and education.
“Everyone is born with talents, and so I think leaders are born. But if you don’t work on your leadership skills, if you don’t work to develop yourself as a leader, you won’t be successful,” commented Marshall Marrs, a first-year student from Arvada, Colo., majoring in public policy and political science.
Marrs has a rich history in leadership-oriented establishments. He served on the Student Government at his high school, and he was the co-chair for their Make-A-Wish committee. His passion for public service encouraged him to run in the election for freshman senator for the Undergraduate Student Government.
I wholeheartedly agree with Marrs’s claim. Upon entering high school, I was honest, committed and optimistic; however, I had to hone those skills to become a better leader. Through theatre, yearbook and Student Leadership, I gained a better understanding of how I work with others, what I can do for my community and who I am as a leader.
As I enter college, I still carry those characteristics, but I am continuing to expand my horizons. Classes such as Inclusive Leadership and personality tests are encouraging students like myself to explore their leadership personalities to understand how they can contribute more to the communities they serve. Therefore, I don’t think leadership is born or taught, I think it’s an even mixture of the two.
