Leadership Development: Secretary of National Society Chapter at Hamilton High School

I was elected as Secretary of my high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society for my senior year of high school. This position taught me many different and important leadership skills. First, I learned that a leader must always know what is going on and to be prepared for both the worst and best. As secretary, it was my job to organize and plan the biannual blood drives during the school year. This meant I had to handout forms for students to fill out if they wanted to donate blood, collect and organize all of the completed paperwork, schedule all of the appointments for both students and staff, collect all forms from NHS members giving permission for them to volunteer at the blood drive, and to organize all jobs for NHS members who volunteered to help run the blood drive. I had to know what was happening at all times throughout the blood drive so if there was a problem, we could react quickly and correctly. Due to the blood drives being the day before thanksgiving break and spring break, many students unexpectedly would miss. As a result of this, I had to always be prepared for if someone did not show up for their appointment. This meant I always had to have a waitlist of other students or teachers I could fill in for the missed appointment. This made times when I would have been panicking because of a missed appointment less stressful and more manageable. If I would not have been prepared, I would not have been able to be effective in my leadership position and make sure that the blood drive ran efficiently and effectively for National Honor Society.

I also learned about working with other executives in leadership positions and other members. The year I was secretary, we decided to create and run a brand-new event for NHS, this event was a Halloween Carnival for students who went to the elementary schools in the district. Because this was a new event for everyone, there was much planning and organizing of details in order for everything to run smoothly. In order for the details to be figured out, papers and flyers to be created, and the event organized, all executive members and members had to be on the same page. Everyone needed to communicate with each other and make sure that everyone knew what was going on and what was expected. As secretary, it was my job to be mediator between everyone, to create flyers and tickets, and to make sure that all details and planning was in order. I was able to make sure all plans and details were told and accessible to all so that there was no miscommunication or confusion among members.

Overall, I think that my experience as Secretary of National Honor Society helped me to develop leadership skills that I can and continue to apply in many areas of my life and in my future life and career.

Ticket I created for the NHS Halloween Carnival

2018 NHS Halloween Carnival Ticket-2

Example of Spreadsheet I had to create for the Blood Drive. Names were taken out to protect privacy of students.

Copy of Fall 2018 Blood Drive Participants_Volunteers – Fall 2018 Donors

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

ACES Pillars Film Project

 

The ACES Pillars Film Project was a group project we completed and presented in my SCHOLAR 1100.01 class. We were paired with four to five other people in the class and had to choose a movie to watch and reflect. The movie my group chose to watch was Girl Rising. This movie was about why we should work to educate more girls in the world. The movie followed nine different girls on their journey to continue or begin their education. Along the way, many of the girls also dealt with other issues including bondage, poverty, underage arranged marriages, sexual assault, and going against social norms.

I learned so many different things while completing this project. Prior to completing this project, I was unaware how common and how astonishing the statistics for girls not in school was. I did not realize it was so common in other countries. I was also unaware of how common it is in other countries for arranged and underaged marriages. I did not realize that it is common practice and is a social norm, even though it is illegal, in other countries.

I was amazed that even though we have admitted that not educating girls is a problem and that it needs to be fixed, and we have started to try to fix it, but that more people are not joining the cause to help fix this. One of the statements in the film that really struck me was that women grow the economy when they are educated, however this incentive is not encouraging more people to join the cause. This project opened my eyes to the injustice of opportunities in the education system for girls around the world. Girls need to be given the opportunity to pursue and education and make a life for themselves.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1D5STXbXMJYLjTcjkCohtcUjzDwhQNTG9WDlLPl6LUEk/edit?usp=sharing