Mattie Smyth
Creighton University / Class of 2017
Section I: Throughout the course of the year, we’ve covered several leadership topic areas. These topic areas are:
Self-Awareness (Unity of Mind and Heart)
Working With Others (Men and Women for and with Others)
Personal Skills (Cura Personalis)
Planning (Magis)
Professionalism (A.M.D.G)
Action (Agents for Change)
Describe how you’ve learned or further developed five tangible leadership skills and provide examples of how you’ve done this in a one page reflection paper.
Section II: Describe how the program has impacted you by writing reflections of three different events and/or experiences that took place throughout the year. These reflections can be from things like the ropes course, the fall retreat, mentor events, etc. Each reflection of a specific event should be at least one page in length.
Section III: Throughout the course of the year, we’ve covered several leadership theories. These theories are:
CU Leadership - Exploring our Values
Heroic Leadership
Followership
Servant Leadership
Ethical Leadership
Integrity Leadership
Visionary and Transformational Leadership
Provide a one page reflection on each of these theories. When writing the reflections, consider what you liked or disliked about each theory. Was there anything you strongly agreed with or strongly disagreed when a seminar presenter covered a certain topic area? How do you envision you would enact that particular leadership style if given the chance? Have you ever met someone who you thought enacted a particular leadership theory very well? What did that person do and how did they do it?
Throughout the course of the year you’ve met various campus and community partners that have demonstrated and internalized leadership in their own way. You have also been given the opportunity to learn about different leadership models and theories. As you move forward with your collegiate career, please describe in a once page paper your definition of leadership and how you hope to integrate your definition into practice though leadership positions.
FLP PORTFOLIO
In September we created personal mission statements. As you reread your mission statement please think about who you are now as a person, what you value, and how you have developed over a year. Write a one page reflection paper on what you would change or keep the same in your personal mission statement. (Include your original mission statement in the paper.)
The Leadership Plan will explain your plan to implement leadership into your co-curricular activities here at Creighton over the next 3 years. When completing this portion of the project, please consider the academic plan that you completed in your RSP course; the two plans should align and work together. The leadership plan will have four sections: The Reflection, The Dream, The Approach and finally, The Connection. The specific requirements for each section within the leadership plan can be seen below.
Section I: The Reflection
Throughout the year you’ve been exposed to a number of leadership theories and best practices for enacting leadership. Take some time to reflect on your year in FLP. Look through your journal entries, seminar notes, COM152 assignments, etc. and begin to examine your growth. What, if anything, has changed? Discuss which of the leadership theories you were exposed to this year in FLP and in this course specifically influenced you most. Why did these particular leadership theories resonate with you?
Section II: The Dream
Picture yourself as a graduating senior at Creighton. Tell us what an ideal situation would be for you pertaining to your leadership involvement. Do you see yourself as a leader in student government or an academic club? Perhaps you are volunteering frequently or leading a weekly book discussion amongst your friends. Keep in mind that leadership does not have to mean that you have to be the PResident of CSU.
Section III: The Approach
Now that you’ve reflected as well as spent some time dwelling in possibility, tell us how you’ll achieve your leadership goals. What steps do you need to take in order to ensure that you can achieve what it is that you’ve set out to do. This section should be more than just simply an explanation of which positions you’ll run for within your student groups. We want you to consider some leadership concepts you’ve learned this year such as but not limited to networking, delegation, specific leadership theories, etc.
Section IV: The Connection
This is essentially the conclusion to your leadership plan. We want to know how it all fits together. Consider how this leadership plan fits (or doesn’t fit) into your RSP Academic Plan. Explain how your personal mission statement influences your leadership plan.
Review your Communication Studies speeches from the fall semester, and choose two speeches that challenged you. These speeches could have challenged you because of content., delivery style, or because of critique given by professors or peers. Write a one page reflection for each speech and describe the specific reasons why it was challenging and how you have grown from that experience.
Section I:
Service is a key component in leadership and the Freshman Leadership Program. It is an opportunity to be in community with those who are sometimes different from ourselves or be a part of a process that has the potential to impact others positively. Through service we learn more about ourselves and the world around us. Reflect on your service experiences throughout the year in a two page reflection. Please include your understanding of how diversity is incorporated into the service you have done.
Section II:
In recognizing there is a distinct difference between service and social justice, please describe your understanding of this difference in a one page paper.
Write a 1-3 page reflection about what it was like to live amongst other leaders. What types of leadership styles did you see? What did it mean to be an active contributor to the overall living-learning community that was K9? Was it what you expected? Why or why not and give an explanation.
Consider where you were a year ago and where you are now in terms of leadership, community, and self-awareness. How have you grown? What has changed? What has contributed to your personal development and outlook? Please describe your overall experience within the Freshman Leadership Program in a two page paper.
Part I:
Now that you have been through the Freshman Leadership Program, how have you used the skills you learned last year in order to help you become a stronger and more effective leader this year? What is one leadership style that you think you used most in your time as a mentor for the program or one that you think you have learned the most from over the year?
Part II:
How are you going to keep applying what you have learned from the program this far to your future leadership goals? How has your leadership plan that you made in your freshman year portfolio changed? Stayed the same? What are your new goals for applying your leadership skills that you have developed?
Part III:
Have you effectively lived out the mission statement you created your freshman year? Or would you change it? How would you change it? How did you apply your mission statement to the mentor position? What was your favorite part of being a mentor for the program? How did you grow from taking on this hands-on leadership opportunity?