Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. -Aristotle

I feel like this leadership quote is one which I can relate to my personal leadership experiences. Through my previous leadership experiences I had to begin from being the follower. Only from there was I able to become a leader towards others. I would teach them what I had learned in their position. Specifically, when I was a Senior Leader for the Freshman class in high school. I feel like learning and leading go hand in hand, you continue to learn while leading.

The E-Portfolio presentation was specifically interesting because I was not very aware that one could basically market themselves through highlighting the high points of their experiences relevant to the reason for their making the portfolio.

It is bit overwhelming to decide what experiences I wish to highlight in my E-Portfolio. Specifically because what I should highlight depends on who I am intending the audience of my portfolio to be. I would most probably include for sure my service learning experience and teaching.

It is important for a leader to serve others because that way they are leading with a purpose. Being a servant to others keeps a leader humble. It is important in order for a leader to not let the power go to their head and then loose the spirit and purpose for what they stand for.

Helping others is something that I have always enjoyed doing. Not for the recognition or the acknowledgements but because it just makes me feel good inside. Knowing that I helped others and did something as simple as put a smile on their face makes me feel good about what I am doing, it keeps me humble. I feel like this can relate to leadership because by helping others I feel like one can make a change and inspire others to do the same. 


Esperanza Benitez :)

Limits exist only in the mind.

Hello! My name is Esperanza :)

I am new to the whole blogging thing. Hope this is the start of some good blogging! Haha.

Through the STARS LEAD program I am interested in having the opportunity to explore and learn more about what it actually means to be a leader. Specifically through service. I have always enjoyed service learning and having the opportunity to grow as a leader through the Empowerment Pipeline is exciting. I cannot wait to develop my leadership skills through the workshops that this program offers. 

At the end of the program I wish to have learned so much more about what it means to be a leader. I would like to be able to have developed my leadership skills by taking advantage of all of the opportunities being offered in this program.

In the first STARS Leaders meeting it was exciting to get to meet all of my other peers that are in the program. It was a welcoming environment with ice breakers just getting comfortable with the group that I will be working with this semester. It was enjoyable being in a group full of leaders learning what we will be experiencing together throughout the course of the semester.

Leadership... it is an attitude that one has. It is a mentality of doing what is right with the interests of society in mind.  Being a leader is not just being the first one to speak, being a leader means being the voice of what the group is thinking. A leader does something because it is the right thing to do, not because it is the easiest. A leader is someone that others can count on.

Through the course of this program I wish to be able to learn how to step up to the plate when necessary. Helping out and being someone that others can count on and turn to when something needs to be done. I am specifically interested in feeling comfortable identifying myself as a leader. When someone asks me who are you and what do you bring to the table, I want to be able to say “I am a Leader.”

Esperanza Benitez :)