At the beginning of the course, I was unsure what to expect in terms of events due to covid being in place the previous year I took leadership. Walking into leadership, I knew that I wanted to get involved in the school as much as I could because it was my final year at Pinetree. With this, I tried to absorb as many events as I could from missing out on them in my own grade 9-11 experience from covid restrictions.

My main goal at the very beginning of the course was to be a part of a big event that would be meaningful for the students, which was the grade 9 and 10 Spring Fling. Even though this wasn’t as large-scale as the carnival, I felt that it reached the goal of becoming meaningful for students. I could tell that the grade 9 and 10s really enjoyed their experience because I would hear them talking about it in the halls the day after. My job for this event was running the cornhole toss with Yuna which provided a quieter “safe space” for the students to hang out in. It was heartwarming to know I was a part of creating something that was so many people’s first high school dance experience. It made me feel like a proud mom from how tiny and little the kids were. Overall, I was extremely content with how the event ran because I know that the students had a really good time. 

I feel that I have grown tremendously since the beginning of the course because I have been able to better communicate with my peers. Like many at the start of the course, I was very nervous and did not interact with many of my peers and only stuck to the people I know. As the course developed, I began to interact with more and more people with each event. Nearing the end of midterms, I developed my communication skills where I knew at least 20 different people I never interacted with before. I felt that one of the biggest takeaways from the course was being able to interact with so many people that I normally would have not interacted with before. I made some strong connections with my peers, and I am grateful for getting closer to some individuals.  

My personal goal at midterms was to be a point person for at least one event. I did achieve this goal as I was the point person for the Valentine’s Day Spirit Event held in the foyer. My experience with this was that it was easy on my end to plan the event and organize the technical details, but it was difficult collaborating with my group. This is because sometimes someone would commit to something and then not show up, or people would not show up to create the decorations. Even though Carrie and I communicated on Teams with our group as best as we could, there could have been a bit more involvement from some members. However, I was extremely proud of the event because it was the first time I took on a bigger role. 

In the end, I  found the course to be a very fun way to get more involved in the school community and make meaningful memories that I hold on to even as I reach post-secondary. As I have a passion for organizing events, I felt that leadership really helped me express that passion from the involvement of events. Although at times it was a bit overwhelming from balancing school work and friends, I know that leadership taught me valuable time management skills. From this, I had to account for events and assignments in addition to my other commitments. I thought that all of the assignments were very thoughtful and unique as I had never completed assignments around the topics that this course did like the vulnerability assignment. Ultimately, I am so glad I took this course because it taught me valuable skills that I wouldn’t had the opportunity to develop elsewhere.