Act of Good Leadership Assignment
Due: April 5, 2020
Do an act of
kindness/generosity and post a 250 word reflection in the comment
section of the Bad Leadership Blog summarizing what you did, how you felt
about it, how the people felt about it (if it was not anonymous), and how your
act contributes to good leadership.
Also—briefly summarize your act and post it on:
Also—briefly summarize your act and post it on:
I wrote to my first writing workshop instructor yesterday. I met her at Kenyon College’s Young Writers Summer Program in 2018, and although she was the one who helped me reaffirmed my passion for writing, I never properly told her that, and never properly thanked her. In fact, we haven’t spoken since the program ended, which was almost two years ago. In my email to her, I told her where I am with creative nonfiction writing right now, and explained how a poem she wrote back then inspired me to keep writing when I felt stuck. Really, I just wanted to thank her for her guidance.
ReplyDeleteWriting and sending the email was a very nervous process, and I thought about not sending many times before finally muttering up the courage to click “send”. Fortunately, she responded in under five minutes, saying that she was very happy to be a special influence on my interest as a writer (of course she expressed it in a very modest tone), and just agreed how truly magical our workshop from two years ago had been.
Reading her email really made my day yesterday. Being a great writer, she writes her email in such a way that feels very lyrical. But more importantly, reconnecting with a very important person in my life and finally expressing gratitude feels even better.
I wrote a card and sent it to my volleyball coach from high school, Jack. It said “sending hugs and good vibes your way” on the outside with “you’ve got this” on the inside, which was perfect since I was talking about corona and how he can get through it as well. I remember seeing his Facebook post saying that his mother was unfortunately diagnosed with the coronavirus, and I thought this was the perfect time to reach out and reassure him that I’m here to help if he needed anything. I drew some volleyballs all over the inside cover and made corona puns to hopefully make him laugh. I also included some inside jokes. It felt nice to reach out and I’m sure it would make him feel better once seeing that I was thinking about him. I am yet to receive a response but I’m looking forward to it! I’m sure he’ll make fun of me for using mail instead of a text, but I thought it was a better way of showing that I am really putting effort in making sure he and his family is alright. I believe that this act contributes to good leadership, because instead of only thinking about myself and the immediate people surrounding me, I remembered to reach out to others in a time of stress. Especially with the corona pandemic, I think it’s important to keep in touch with everyone and offer your help (as long as it’s not dangerous to you or others). Just letting others know that you’re thinking about them and there for them will make others feel more loved and cared for, causing an improvement to mental health.
ReplyDeleteAs my act of kindness, I started a temporary calculus clinic for students of my old high school during the coronavirus pandemic. Their school has shifted to online instruction through Canvas and Zoom which makes preparations for the adapted AP exams (45-minute online) much more difficult. I heard that many students felt underprepared for the tests and their scores still matter in terms of pre-matriculated units for colleges.
ReplyDeleteI was a TA for the Calculus Honors course in high school and have taught all relevant coursework so I felt that I could contribute. I started a Discord server where students submit their problems and coursework to me and I help them with similar problems and conceptual analysis through texting, phone calls, or screen-sharing. I also attached my WhatsApp number and have helped students one-on-one through that platform as well.
These students seem to have a more thorough understanding of their work after the sessions and hopefully we will see the results soon grade-wise. They have been very willing to ask questions and seem to be grateful for the help (some are more vocal about that than others). It has taken a decent amount of time to set up and there are not always students present who need help which makes the time commitment a bit challenging. I am not sure how much longer my own schedule and coursework will let me continue this endeavor but I hope that while it is active, it remains helpful and is accessible to any student who needs it.
For my act of kindness, I chose to facetime the friend I wrote about in my gratitude assignment. After catching up and talking for a while, I explained the purpose of the gratitude assignment and proceeded to read it aloud to him. It was really nice seeing him smile and feel appreciated. While lots of people feel positive ways about friends and loved ones, not many take the step to explicitly state the amount to which they cherish having them in their lives. I decided to read this out loud rather than share the document with him or shoot him a text in order to enable myself to convey the words in a heartfelt manner. I felt that the physical presence of my voice on top of the words helped illustrate this. We were both excited to talk to each other in the first place, as we both tend to pack our schedules full of events and thus have little free time to catch up, though I definitely noticed an increased sense of joy in his voice as we continued to talk afterwards. I plan on doing this in the future; displaying to loved ones the extent you appreciate them is a relatively simple act of benevolence that carries with it a positive emotional impact to the respective person. The timing of this assignment also worked out well, as we are in the midst of a stressful time across the globe, and adding sparks of kindness in other’s lives will only help us continue to thrive as friends, spouses, families, and communities.
ReplyDeleteWith the coronavirus pandemic there has been a huge shortage of face masks, and I know in some places stores have run out and online orders have been backed up. My mom learned through her social media network that one of our family friends--who is very handy and creative--was making face masks. She was asking friends around the community to help her start this supply to donate using items that can easily be found at home. So over the weekend we looked around the house for supplies she needed. We donated a new queen-size bed sheet for the actual cloth of the masks and ordered a large pack of rubber-bands online to send her as well. I’d been thinking about starting some sort of collection so I was really grateful to learn someone I knew in my community was already doing something to help with the shortage of face masks for doctors and people in shelters. It was definitely a relief too to know that my community is aware of the dangers of the pandemic, but active about doing their part to help others during this time. My mom was especially enthusiastic about the idea, as she’s been a big supporter of using face masks from the beginning. My brother was also helping us look around, and I was very appreciative of the fact that everyone (in the house at the time) was so willing to help out.
ReplyDelete^^Amanda Han
DeleteAs you know, Lori White is leaving her Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs position at WashU to become president of DePauw University. While she will be leaving in May, her husband, Tony Tillman, who founded and runs the Deneb STARS program at WashU, will be staying here for another year before joining Dr. White in Indiana. Dr. White is rightfully getting lots of congratulations and gifts, but few people have been thinking about how this sudden change will be uprooting Tony's life, as he will have to leave the Deneb STARS program that he refers to as "his baby". Tony collects stuffed animals, mostly from all the colleges that he and Dr. White have worked at, and uses them to decorate throughout his house - he has about every variation of a WashU teddy bear that could be made. To give him some love and attention, I surprised him last week by ordering and sending him a stuffed DePauw Tiger (their mascot!) with a card. After receiving it, Tony texted me a long thank you note and how much my gift meant to him. In addition to making the both of us feel good, my random act of kindness contributed to good leadership by recognizing another leader who is not getting as much credit or recognition as other leaders, and showing him that his work is not going unnoticed.
ReplyDelete^^ Jaya Tewari!
DeleteI live in New York City and have been hearing a lot of audible applause toward doctors, nurses, and everyone who is putting their lives on the line to save people. One evening, I heard applause and cheering coming from outside, but I did not know exactly what its purpose was. I later found out that at 7 pm every night, NYC citizens applaud doctors and nurses during their hospital shift-change time (7 pm). As soon as I learned this, I began standing on my balcony at 6:59 pm and cheered and clapped as soon as my voice was the last one I could hear. I loved seeing all the faces down my block yelling from outside their windows. I was totally astonished by the amount of faces I saw and the level of noise we were able to collectively generate. As each day went on, I noticed that the amount of people joining in on this act of kindness was progressively increasing. People started ringing cowbells, hitting pots and pans, and finding creative ways to make the most amount of noise to show their gratitude. I also encouraged my family and friends to join in on this act of kindness. Now, my mother, father, sister, and I all go on the balcony together and cheer our hearts out. While we can not necessarily see the faces of those we hope can hear us, to be a part of this new tradition feels empowering and fills me with joy and warmth.
ReplyDelete-Vanessa Nasser
Delete^ Vanessa Nasser
ReplyDeleteDuring this time, everyone's emotions are heightened. International and domestic travel are limited, and people are being advised to stay at home. Regardless of these regulations, my mom and dad had to go to Phoenix after receiving a call that my mother's favorite aunt is very sick. I am the oldest of six kids and all of my siblings are also doing distance learning at home. I had to watch all of my siblings and make sure meals were prepared for them. Additionally, some of them needed help with their schoolwork. This was hard to balance with my own schedule of online class, but I knew that as the oldest child, my parents needed me to step up. I am not much of a cook, so meals usually consisted of boxed mac and cheese and pre made chicken nuggets, but I did my best to make sure that they were fed and not struggling with their work. I wish that I could have done more to make the day fun for my siblings as now we are going through societal stress and family stress. Seeing my parents so upset made us very upset, and it was hard not to show my emotions around my siblings. I didn't want to cry in front of them and add to their anxiousness regarding my parents leaving town. However, I knew that regardless of the limitations that quarantine is putting on us, my parents were grateful that I took care of them while they were gone.
ReplyDeleteOver the past week, my father's side of the family has experienced some relatively significant challenges and changes which have been difficult for them all to work through. However, because my father's extended family live in a different part of the country, and the Covid-19 crisis prevents non-vital domestic travel, he was unable to be with his family during this time. While this was happening, I could tell how straining this was for him, and, while I couldn't completely understand what he was dealing with I wanted to help in any way I could. So, on the afternoon that he was going to meet in a group call with his family, I decided to take care of my three younger siblings for the day. My main goal was to allow my parents to be able to focus on talking with extended family and not have to worry about my siblings, so I made them lunch and took them to a park for the day, and just tried my best to entertain them during this time of social distancing. While it was a relatively small task, my parents greatly appreciated my recognition of their situation and willingness to do what I could to help.
ReplyDeleteCameran Hofmeyer
DeleteTo provide some context, my mom and I don’t share the closest bond with each other. For example, our conversations are purely practical and nearly devoid of emotions. Before the virus broke out, my mom unfortunately booked a ticket and travelled to China. She didn’t fully realize the severity of this situation until the US issued a travel ban to noncitizens who have recently travelled there, so she couldn’t come back. To make matters worse (or perhaps better) she’s feeling quite lonely and isolated because she’s living alone. Maybe about 2 weeks ago, I started getting concerned about her health and safety and called to check in with her. Although that initial call was short and concise like usual, I think it surprised the both of us that our conversations could be more than just me reporting my grades and asking her for some money to pay for my “living expenses”. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to call her at least once a day. Our calls went from being 5 minutes long, to 15 minutes, and now to 45 minutes. More importantly, our calls went from just making small talk to talking about the things we did that day, the meals we prepared and ate, and many more genuinely interesting topics. Maybe it’s a cultural thing but my mom is not expressive at all. Even though she didn’t explicitly say anything about this gesture, I hope my act of kindness has helped her better cope with the paranoia, loss, and loneliness that have been impacting her life. A community is what drives a company forward, and a good leader should cultivate such community. And I’m currently taking a small step in strengthening the bond I have with my one and only parent.
ReplyDelete^Paul Lee
Delete^Paul Lee
ReplyDeleteSince I've left for college, my parents and brother found it difficult to eat dinner together at the same time every day. I've been making it an effort for all of us to eat meals together. After Coronavirus and the quarantine, my parents (but dad especially) are having a difficult time transitioning to work from home and finding a quiet, non-distracting area to work. My parents tend to cook meals for my brother and I, but I've noticed how stressed they get about making dinner on time while still getting enough work done during the day. Even though I tend to burn scrambled eggs and am an awful cook in general, my act of kindness has been helping with dinner by making a side dish every night or helping cook/prepare our dinner. I forced my brother to cook these meals with me so we do it together and are equally to blame if something turns out poorly. Twice a day, I also feed my dog and walk him afterwards. This was usually my dad's job, but I wanted to takeover so I could get out of the house and exercise, but also give him more time to work. I believe my parents really appreciate this effort of me and brother taking more leadership in the kitchen and overall house. -Marissa David
ReplyDeleteLast week, my former high school began online school. There were a few hiccups along the way, and I knew teachers were stressed after being given only a couple of weeks to change their curriculum. On Monday, the first day of online school for my high school, I emailed a former teacher to give her kind words and support as she underwent this transition. In high school, she played a big part in developing some of my interest and molding me into the person I am today. I didn’t think she knew how much of an impact she was to me, so I made sure to tell her in my email. In all honesty, I was a little bit nervous sending the email and I’m not sure why. I knew she would be happy to read what I wrote. In fact, she responded back admitting that my words made her cry. Maybe the nervousness stemmed from the fact that I usually offered words of appreciation when it seemed like it was the right moment (ex. At the end of the school year). This email was out of the blue. Regardless of my nervousness, she was very happy to read my email, and she gave me an update about the process to transition to online school. I’m glad I sent the email to her. It made me happy knowing that my email made her day.
ReplyDeleteGoodness Adekanmi
For my act of kindness, I chose to send a gift to a dear friend of mine, Abby. The physical present wasn’t the point, rather it was the sentiment behind the gift and an expression of appreciation. I recently finished the book “Heart Talk” by Cleo Wade, which discusses gratitude among other things. Wade says, “Oftentimes we think gratitude is this big and complicated idea, but gratitude is simple. It is a thank-you to everything and everyone allowing you to be in your story while it unfolds.” Abby does this, her sparkle inspires me to be my most genuine and best self. Everyone has different love languages, personally I am not generally the gifts or words-of-affirmation type. However, Abby is a "gift person" and I wanted to express my appreciation in the manner she could best receive it. Abby is one of the kindest, most giving people I have ever met. She has taught me so much about self-love and unconditional positivity. She is caring and nonjudgmental and heartfelt. I wanted to communicate my gratitude to Abby for being an incredible friend and bright light in my life.
ReplyDeleteI sent Abby a canvas print of us laughing at the John Lennon Wall in Prague in May of 2019. Pictures tell stories, they capture feelings, dynamics, and memories, immortalizing a moment in time. In the photo, the textured cobblestone street contrasts with the bright colors of the graffiti behind us. I’m wearing one of Abby’s t-shirts, she’s smiling with her mouth open, one foot off the floor. It’s been almost a year since the picture was taken, but this is Abby: vibrant, glowing, full of life. I visited her over the summer in New York, and she came to me in LA for New Years and winter break. I was going to visit again this summer, and we had plans to go to Govball with some of our other close friends. Everything has been postponed in light of recent current events, but that’s okay. In the meantime, this photo will go well with the décor in Abby’s room!
Thank you,
Elana Czuker
For my act of kindness, I wrote an email to a professor I had during a summer program. Before taking his class, I had no idea what I wanted to be in the future. Everyone around me was following the generic route of becoming doctors, computer scientists, and lawyers. While I have interest in those fields, I was not sparked with passion. This professor taught an intro to business, finance, and accounting. While he taught many concepts and brought interesting speakers, the most valuable thing I drew from this course were the after-class discussions. He was willing to talk up to an hour about what consulting is and its many facets. Frequently, we had conversations about current events, and how those affected business and the economy. He even wrote an amazing recommendation letter, but I was not able to properly communicate with him after almost two years. Writing the email allowed me to reflect the impact he had on the choices I made about education and career. I felt guilty that I lacked the awareness to show appreciation towards my professor over these past two years. At first, I did not realize how important it was to communicate gratitude. Then, I used the excuse that it was too late for me to do so. Thus, this exercise allowed me to confront my guilt, and reach out to him. I felt proud of myself for giving the additional effort of starting a conversation by asking him questions at the end. This act contributes to good leadership by stressing how important showing gratitude is. It is never too late, so I should just let people know. Furthermore, it also helps by practicing the act of growing a relationship.
ReplyDeleteJustina Guo
It was hard to figure out an act of kindness that I could do without leaving my house. With the quarantine, it is hard to really do anything other than work. So I decided to do something really small but hopefully meaningful.
ReplyDeleteFor my act of kindness, I reached out to a friend I had not talked to in awhile. We went to high school together but have not talked for about a year. When I reached out to her, I asked her how she was doing and apologized for not talking sooner. We were not very close in highschool but I remember how kind she was to me and the other kids in my grade. It was obviously a very small act, but it honestly felt uncomfortable at first. I didn’t know how to randomly talk to someone I hadn’t talked to, it felt awkward. Regardless, I said hi, and said I wanted to know how she was doing with school and dealing with quarantine. It was also funny because at the end of our conversation she said she was so happy that I reached out and that she was actually planning on doing the same.
Though it was small, the act was meaningful because it is something I would have never done normally. Because we weren't close I assumed that I just would lose touch. I am glad I reached out to her in the end. It actually inspired be to do more things like that and reach out to more people I haven’t talked too. You could end up having a really good conversation. Reaching out may be awkward at first but it is pretty rewarding in the end.
- Caroline W
I turned 19 on Friday, and every year on my birthday, my mom and I spend the day making and decorating a huge cake that I would usually share with my friends at my birthday party. Since we are all socially isolating, I can't have a party like I usually do, so my family was left with A LOT of leftover cake. So for my act of kindness, I rapped up pieces of the cake and left them on my neighbor's front steps with a note. I felt a little awkward walking around the block while caring 10 pieces of cake. I also was a little worried about how my neighbors would respond, as I am pretty sure 90% of them don't know who I am. Eventually, I just had to put these worries behind me, which made me feel more comfortable. In the end, people seemed to really enjoy the cake! I got many pictures and texts from families around saying how much the cake had brightened their day. This even led me to reconnect with some kids who I used to babysit for but and had fallen out of touch with. Overall it was a very positive experience. With everyone stuck inside their houses, it's very difficult to main the feeling that we are apart of a community. Through passing out the cake, I was participating in good leadership because they ended up acting as a bridge and has resulted in my neighborhood becoming closer together.
ReplyDelete-Abby
To contribute to good leadership, I wrote letters to my neighbors who both decided this week where they were going to school next year. Thomas is a year younger than me and accepted his admittance to Syracuse University in New York. His younger sister, Margaret, was admitted to Chicago’s top selective enrollment highschool - Payton College Prep. As I graduated from a CPS highschool and have almost a year in college down, I decided to write letters to both to congratulate them and give them advice for their first years.
ReplyDeleteSince both are taking huge steps into a new school I thought this would be really helpful for them to hear what I have learned. I included funny stories, embarrassing moments, favorite subjects and the best memories I’ve made. I tried to avoid all the cliches but at the same time let them know that these next years are going to push them into being a new person and they shouldn’t be afraid.
They both responded really well to their letters. We had a good text conversation afterwards where they thanked me and let me ease some of their worries about next year. I’ve been an older sibling to both of them since basically birth as our families are really close and they appreciated getting advice from someone closer in age to them. I think this act of kindness also helped me as, in reflecting on my highschool and first year of college, I realized how much I’ve changed and gave me some perspective in this current crisis. This has shown me that just letting people know that you’ve been in their position can really be an encouraging and helpful resource, and I hope to continue to aid others like this in the future.
-Grace N
The act of kindness that I did was that I wrote a physical letter and send a scanned version to my grandma that I haven’t seen in 9 months. She was always there for me in times when I needed any help or support and always tried to help in any possible way. I included everything in my letter: my earliest memories of her, how she always was the person that stayed on my side when my parents were unhappy about something, how she treated me like an adult ever since I remember her, how she instilled discipline and work ethic into me, how much I love the strawberry pie that she cooked, how much I liked her jokes, how much I liked her positive attitude, how much I liked her guidance. All these things helped me in my life tremendously and I’m truly grateful for having such a great grandmother as her.
ReplyDeleteAs a result of this letter, my grandmother called me back in the middle of the night crying. She said that she was extremely happy to have me as her grandson and she said she thinks about her grandchildren every day. She said that she relives all moments from my life every day and was extremely happy to see a letter from her grandson. She said to me that this letter was a highlight of this year for her. She said that she thought she would have to take a medication, because of how strongly this letter affected her. I wish her everything best.
- Zaurbek Zhakupov
Since coming home, I hadn’t been able to see my best friend due to some personal complications. My friend was trying to finish up the end of her academic quarter, and she was struggling a bit to get everything done. She has been coping with anxiety for a little while, and I watched from the sidelines this year in college as her anxiety got worse.
ReplyDeleteNot wanting to distract her but wanting to show that I love her and support her, I baked my best friend some muffins on Sunday afternoon for my act of kindness, and I delivered them to her house. She met me outside in the street, and we stood six feet apart and caught up on our lives, since it had been a while since that had happened.
Not only was this act of kindness an opportunity for me to relax for an afternoon, bake yummy treats, and dance around my kitchen, but it was wonderful to see my friend’s face, beaming and full of joy, as a result. Due to my friend’s personal situation as of recently, she has been a little bit MIA in my life–however, I know that in the long run, we have each other's backs no matter what. So in this three month period since we saw each other last, although our relationship has been partially imbalanced, I know that supporting my friend to the best of my abilities is the most important thing right now, and I know that she will support me in return when I need it.
-Kyla Kikkawa
For my act of kindness, I really wanted to focus on how I could make a positive impact on someone I love while still doing my part to socially distance. My act of kindness is one that has been ongoing, but it involves calling each of my grandmas as often as possible (daily even) to make sure that they do not feel alone. Both of my grandmas are in their eighties and live alone in large houses and often spend time with friends or their grandkids to avoid being lonely. The virus however, has made this extremely difficult and so they are both getting very lonely. I have thus made it my goal to make sure that they know they are not alone. I call my Nana in the mornings and she tells me about the bunnies in her backyard and I call my grandma in the afternoon and she tells me family stories. I am working on getting FaceTime set up for each of them. There is something about knowing you aren’t alone that is very comforting. To be cooped up inside is a very anxiety inducing experience, but when you have even the smallest contact with someone, it provides a new energy. I told my grandma that I picked up embroidery and she got so excited because she loves to embroider as well. Being able to hear her light up after sounding so drained made me happy and I’m sure that she got joy from knowing that someone was thinking of her.
ReplyDelete- Ryan Sears
DeleteFor my act of kindness, I sent a message to a graduating senior on my soccer team. I recognized that she was most likely frustrated by what’s happening and her inability to have a graduation ceremony. I was also unable to properly say goodbye to her as we did not know the circumstances that would follow leaving for Spring Break. I sent her a text message letting her know how grateful I feel to have had her as a teammate my freshman year. She immediately welcomed me on the team and continued to exemplify what it means to be a good leader and teammate. After I sent the text showing my gratitude for her, I felt really good about communicating with her the impact she’s had on my life, even though it was for a relatively short period of time. She responded with a very sweet text in response letting me know how much it meant to her. Although I would have wished to tell her those words in person, I am happy that I was able to express to her my appreciation for everything she has done for me. – Lindsay Lipman
ReplyDeleteThis past week was my mom’s birthday. My sister and I had been trying to figure out what kind of gift to get her or something special we could do for her. We put the gift-giving aspect of birthdays to the side and focused on the birthday card side of things. Rather than giving her the traditional birthday card with the same message as the previous year, we decided to make a video. My siblings and I recorded our message and included it in the video. We also reached out to my mom’s best friends in Israel, Argentina, and Miami to compile over 25 video messages from friends and family from around the world. As we brought out a tres leches cake my sister baked, we surprised her with the video. She was absolutely shocked and extremely excited to watch it. Every time one message would come to an end, her eyes lit up again in anticipation of the next person. It was an amazing feeling knowing that she was so happy with the video. I also believe that this act of kindness contributes to good leadership because the video showed initiative to try something new. My sister and I had never done something like this before but went out of our comfort zones to reach out to people and put the video together.
ReplyDeleteTomer Shkori