My first I-program was a very memorable one. Not only was it the starting point of understanding my own leadership values, I learnt about being true to yourself most importantly. Integrity is the value I believe in the most. From attending this program, I have learnt concepts of integrity, ethics and morals. I believe in following your true self because there is nothing that you are not doing wrong if you stay true to yourself. In the ethical leadership portion of the program, we analyzed different ethical dilemmas, and the different perspectives on tackling the situation. I learnt that as long as you understand each of the dilemmas consistently, you display your morals and your integrity well. We also looked into the models of ethical decision making which explained that every aspect should be looked over to make sure your decision is true to yourself. I represent integrity everywhere I go and in everything that I do. When I do my homework, I am always making sure that I write down what I have to do in my planner. When I go to work, I make sure that my attitude is positive and stays consistent. And especially in a leadership role, it is important to keep your character and integrity to those who follow you because consistency is key to managing a system well. When applying to jobs, I am definitely going to keep in mind about my integrity, and I have to be true to myself during my future career. Now when every opportunity comes my way, I always think of my integrity first. The reason I do is because if I am not myself in anything that I do, I will not be successful. I want to be success in everything that I do, and it starts with being true to myself.

Who knew that instead of focusing more on improving your weaknesses, you can focus on improving your strengths? Insight helped me understand how to self-manage and self reflect my skills as a leader. I learnt to observe my own behaviors and how it affects the way I lead myself and others to different scenarios. I discovered old and new talents about myself and how it empowers me to use my talents in a positive way. For example, one of my talents is that I always plan ahead. This enables me to be a quick thinker and to anticipate situations quickly in case anything goes awry. Insight has taught me that there’s more than just knowing what your strengths are. It is also knowing how you received your strength and why you do have such strengths to become a leader. Strengths, values, self-reflection are all important especially in my extracurriculars. This program has proven to me that there are also many other identities that are just as important as mine. I learnt from other participants in this program that their identities matter so much in our society. It has made me come to believe in myself more. I am a growing person, and I am always learning something new about how my values can lead others and their values to positive change. Self reflection has helped me appreciate my values so much more, and I tell those who do struggle to self reflect. The time given to yourself is most important, and you learn something more about yourself that you can eventually share with others in a leadership position. I believe that the more you know about yourself, the more confident you are in portraying your integrity to others who choose to lead or follow. This I believe is what I gained from Insight, and I do hope to portray that knowledge to others.

Ignite was one of the most challenging I-programs I attended. Ignite focused a lot on organizational development - discovering how to initiate, lead and sustain change initiatives in organizations. Coming into this program, I had a sufficient amount of knowledge with organizational development because I have been a board member for an RSO called PSA for about two years. It has improved my systems thinking, how I collaborate with other organizations to achieve one goal, and to tackle complex issues. But I knew that being a board member was just the beginning, and that when faced in the real world, I will be dealing with more systems, authorities and professionals. That is when I realized that I needed to learn more about the techniques to applying systems thinking towards diverse groups and to engage in the community by forming coalitions. In this program, I had to focus on Pat Basu’s narrative, and how he used systems thinking in order to work well with diverse fields. I learnt that he focused on the smaller systems before coming to a consensus in order to solve a problem. He even created a system of interaction between different professionals. I learnt that you have to know what the system is from the inside out in order to make a positive change. Up to now, I still believe in many changes that should be implemented in the RSO I am still currently a board member of. The three keys to creating organizational change are systems thinking, identifying stakeholders and coalition building. I have learnt to apply this to PSA. First, I have to make sure that I understand the different systems such as each position, what they do and why they do it. Identifying stake holders are our general members, our board members, and even the community and all its resources. Lastly, coalition building is done through APAC, the Asian Pacific American coalition, where we collaborate with other APAC organizations under the umbrella of other organizations.

I remember one day during my sophomore year when I was in an Illini Union meeting room for my RSO. Next door, I noticed that there was an Imprint program going on. I thought, “I wish I went to that program” Here I am, reflecting on my experience at Imprint, and I could not believe it. This time, the program was held in the ABC rooms of the Illini Union. This comes to show how the program grew from housing possibly 20 leaders to about 300. Out of all the I-programs I attended, Imprint was definitely the most important to attend before graduating. It was as if every I-program I attended mattered in this one. The maturity level of every person I met that day was at a high standard. The professionalism of every alumni guest inspired me to go out and network some more. Even Pat Basu was there in person, and I was just reading about his biography when I attended Ignite. The alumni showed me that leading is a process, and that with patience, listening, and productiveness, you can go anywhere. This program definitely focused on how to transition from graduating to the real world. I learnt about how personal transitions could affect your own future. There are two independent systems, the emotional and rational brain, that may modify your behavior in that transition. These two systems need balance for successful change. I also learnt more about branding, and that you have to carry your own brand with you so that people know and understand how you work. Finally, the program ended with the topic of networking. We evaluated on our personal network, and we also learnt some tips and tricks on how to network efficiently. Before the networking session, one of the goals I hoped to accomplish during the program was to ask as many questions as possible. I asked a lot about interview tips, and that it is very important to know your work culture. After Imprint, I became more aware and knowledgeable about applying to jobs which I am currently doing right now. I highly vision myself carrying the skills I learnt during Imprint throughout my professional career path.

This class, along with the teachings of Don Hardin have wholeheartedly taught me the role of leadership as a coach. There were so many aspects of leadership in coaching that I would not have known if it were not for this class. The class brought in many diverse coaches who shared their stories of how they have effectively led their teams to bring out the best in every competition. They also introduced their own coaching philosophies to the class, which I found to be very helpful when I had to develop my own philosophy at the end of the course. A coaching philosophy is a statement that any coach abides and holds true to when coaching. The reason every coach has a coaching philosophy is because it keeps them stable and consistent when coaching. With every coach, there is a coaching philosophy, and I have created my own after I took this class. One point from the course material that I should have in mind when abiding by my coaching philosophy is self-awareness. Before exhibiting and executing any values I listed, I have to be self aware of who I am, what I want and how I will do it. Another point that really affected me from learning throughout this course is the nutrition and dieting portion. Health is a very important factor in your athletes, and promoting that by having integrity, trust, actively listening to your athletes about their health issues and being humble about their choices even though you want to lead them to the right direction. I want that door of openness with my athletes so that I am not afraid to listen and that they are not afraid to voice their opinions so that in the future, they become future leaders of themselves and have set values they abide by. 

I believe it is vital for every student at U of I to attend an intro to leadership class. AGED 260 delved into the topic of leadership, and how there are many theories supporting leadership according to Northouse. My definition of leadership continues to change as I develop my own sense of leadership. So far, I define leadership as a relationship between the leader and its followers so that a goal could be accomplished in a positive manner. One concept that enlightened my current view on leadership has to be process leadership. Process leadership is an interaction with the leader and its followers. It also implies that leadership cannot happen with out another. For example, a leader cannot exhibit leadership with out its followers and vice versa. this concept also shows that leadership is interchangeable between the two, so leaders have potential to be followers and followers have potential to be leaders. The second concept that drove my current definition of leadership is the five bases of power concept. This concept describes that there are five bases of power in leadership. One specific power is called coercive power, which is power that uses force to effect change, and it usually involves threats and negativity. This is a type of power that I highly am against when it comes to using it in leadership. I feel that leadership is a positive motive, and optimism is key to accomplishing a goal between the leader and its followers.
With my current definition, I hope to develop many areas of my leadership. One is to allow my followers to emerge as leaders when ever they want. Every one has the potential to be a leader, and their potential will help me take a step back and witness their accomplishments. Another area that I would like to develop is the positivity that I bring into my leadership style. I wish for no coerciveness and more optimistic motives toward a common goal between myself and followers. This idea will better communication and the bond that we have so that our leadership could be easily interchangeable.

Since I initially chose the pre-occupational therapy track during freshman year, I wanted to involve myself with experiences that would build my resume. That's when I decided to apply for the personal assistant position over the summer before sophomore year. The personal assistant position at the Beckwith Residential Support Services is a very worthwhile and amazing university student job. First of all, I work with students with disabilities, and they are students just like us. This position allows me to look into a different and new perspective because I myself never knew what or how these students lived here on campus. Second, the hours are very flexible, and this employment understands that academics come first. Currently, I work with two students: Maddi and Mary. They are two wonderful and inspiring students who push me when I feel that I cannot do anything anymore. They always make me realize that life is too short and that it also should not be taken for granted. Because I also assist them with their activities of daily living, I have learnt to grow with patience as well, and that was probably the most challenging obstacle to overcome. For example, they instruct me to change their clothes, take them to the washroom, and it takes two to do teamwork for this position. I know that I have grown as a person because of being a personal assistant for these ladies because I see myself as a better person in many situations. After writing this reflection, I realized that graduation is coming my way, and that my work with you both will end soon. First of all, I want to thank you ladies so much for changing me. Second, I know what I want now, and you have given me the chance to share that to others. Lastly, I am happy to be myself around you two and to the rest of the world out there.

Filipina-American is what I am, but that did not stop me from seeking more. I did not know who I was coming into college, but Quad Day changed that. The Philippine Student Association booth drew my attention because I knew that I could follow a community. But throughout my years in PSA, I not only followed. I lead as well. I ran for officer twice as an Alumni Chair and FACT Coordinator. I was also a cultural dancer for our Barkada group, and we won first place my senior year. While I was in these positions, I worked with 15+ other people who wanted to make a change in the Filipino community. As a board, we come up with a theme based on PSA’s mission statement. When I was on board, our theme was Ating Laban: Rising Beyond. Ating Laban meant “our fight” and as a board even though there will be continuous struggles, we figure out the problems collectively. In the end altogether, we strived to spark the minds of others on Filipino culture and awareness. To further my endeavors of finding my identity, I traveled across the country to Filipino-American conferences in order to build my network and to represent myself as one of the leaders of the next generation. If it was not for what I have learnt in PSA, I would not believe in educating those with current news and issues about the Filipino community. I have begun to embrace the Filipino culture by empowering the individual with knowledge that is sought out by the real world. I truly believe in myself as a future leader for Filipino Americans out there, and I want to continue such a leadership role through non profit organizations such as UniPro. PSA has taught me that I can never stop in what I am doing because it will influence others to step up to the plate.