Juggling school, extracurricular activities, social life, and your mental health can really be a handful. Not to mention the 3 long tests scheduled in one day and the org event that you have to prepare for the next day; these mounting responsibilities can take a toll sometimes. This makes me wonder how others can still manage to be student-leaders in the midst of the crazy life of being a college student. I mean, why run for student leadership?
To answer this question, here are 10 reasons why you should step up for the position. Plus, we have also gathered 4 Chinoy student-leaders from different organizations to share their stories of why they chose this path (and hopefully to inspire you to take this path as well).
1) You will develop personal growth
Mico Tan was the President of the Ateneo Junior Marketing Association for the school year 2019-2020. Leading one of the largest organizations in Ateneo with over 600 members, Tan did not just help the organization develop into the org that it is today, but his role as the president also facilitated his personal growth.
When asked why he chose to be a student-leader, he said “actually, being a student-leader was never part of [his] plan in college. But, like most people, [he] began to realize that some plans are not meant to be. And that’s okay because [he] started to care a bit more. [He] started to love a bit more. [He] started to build relationships and let people in [his] life. [He] met dedicated, passionate, and selfless people who even challenged [him] to always strive to do better, be better, and become the best version of [himself]. These people touched [his] life, and that’s why [he] chose to become a student leader because [he] realized how much people had an impact on [him], and how much these people made [him] grow and filled [his] heart with a burning passion.”
2) You will discover more about yourself
source: https://www.facebook.com/ajma.ph
Tan also stated that having this platform gave him the opportunity to learn more about himself and build himself from there on. He said, “in choosing to become a student leader, it allowed [him] to realize that the most important thing in life is realizing and accepting one’s brokenness – it’s part of being human. It is through accepting this brokenness that allowed [him] to celebrate who [he] truly was as a person, discover [his] own brand of excellence, make [his] own story and ultimately recognize that [his] greatest leap of faith will always be the risk that [he] takes to love and serve for others.”
3) You will gain valuable soft skills
source: https://www.facebook.com/ajma.ph
As a student-leader, you will gain a number of soft skills that are essential in the real-world. One of which is communication, and a big part of having good communication skills is being a good listener. Tan highlights this as he said that “[he has] always believed that what makes a person a leader is when that person is able to take a step back, and listen to what other people have to say. Being a listener is what has become the most important thing in the said role because it puts others first and gives them the chance to lead.”
Aside from this, being a student-leader would also teach you responsibility & accountability. As for Tan’s experience, he said that “this past year, [he has] met individuals who have countless goals and dreams, and it hurts when you are not able to satisfy and help them achieve these in the organization. But [he] thinks the beauty of being placed in the position is that you become hugely responsible for the impact you leave to the people you encounter.”
4) You will learn the value of teamwork
Kyla Badillo, another outstanding Chinoy student-leader, is a councilor of the UP Business Administration Council. She is assigned to work with other councilors and execute a total of 4 projects, as well as spearhead 11 functions for the year. With that said, she needs to closely work with her colleagues to produce successful initiatives.
“Teamwork, when it comes to project ideation and execution, plays an important role towards team success because it allows everyone to build trust among each other. It is especially applicable to my role in student council because I was able to experience being both a team member and project head. As a team member, I saw how my actions directly contributed to our project’s outcome, and I felt proud of the collective effort it took for the event to come to life. As project head, I felt the initiated change not limited to the project’s success, but more about how the entire team went through the learning process together and came out as more experienced individuals.”
5) You will get the opportunity to immerse yourself in the real world
source: https://www.facebook.com/upbacouncil
When asked why she chose to be a student leader, Badillo said that “apart from wanting to immerse and expose [herself] to experiences, [she] really likes the thought of learning outside the classroom and growing as an individual that can better understand other people.” True enough, she did get to engage with a wider population of students with different cultures and backgrounds. She was also able to observe different issues that students are facing inside and outside of school, and help them accordingly.
6) You will have a platform to help others and build a community
Marion Cu is a consistent student-leader. She was a class officer in grade school, a part of the student council in high school, and now continuing on with her desire to lead, she is the president of the UST CRS Physical Therapy Society. She has learned a lot from her years of service, but two of the things that she wants to apply as the current leader of the org are fostering inclusivity and helping others discover themselves even more.
When asked why she chose this path, Cu said that “the insecurities and doubts never go away, but somehow [she was] always able to look past these things whenever [she is] reminded of [her] goal of being a helping hand to others.” Hence, with her willingness to serve, she then started growing self-confidence.
7) You will gain confidence
When asked why she chose this path, Cu said that “the insecurities and doubts never go away, but somehow [she was] always able to look past these things whenever [she is] reminded of [her] goal of being a helping hand to others.” Hence, with her willingness to serve, she then started growing self-confidence.
8) You will build a bigger network
As a student-leader, you will surely be interacting with hundreds of people; be it your school administrators, the heads of big corporate companies or students from other courses and colleges. Having this role would give you the opportunity to widen your circle. This is what Alexandra Go experiences in her position as the Executive Vice President for Academics & Career Development for the Business Management Society.
When asked what she does in her position, Go stated that “[her] main role in the organization is to lead and oversee the academic and career development-related activities that are being offered to the students through working with the different departments and partnering with esteemed companies [to produce projects] such as seminars, workshops, company talks and tours.”
9) You can initiate change
source: https://www.facebook.com/dlsubms
When asked why she chose to be a student-leader, Go explained that “it’s one of the few ways to be part of something good—something that gives positive impact to others.”
Tan also shared his sentiment by saying, “[he believes] that anyone can make an impact; it is just that being President was something [he] felt was the best way for [him] to create a lasting change in the organization.” Therefore, when he won as president, he was then able to innovate past systems of the org and improve previous projects to be able to cater to more people, to foster a closer family, and to further feature the org’s core competencies.
10) You will learn how to manage your time
source: https://safetyskills.com/time-management-skills/
As stated earlier, being a college student already entails a lot of responsibilities. So how would you manage adding leadership to the list? Our Chinoy student-leaders answer: time management. So here are their testimonies on how they did just that.
For Tan, “breathe and stay organized; taking one huge deep breath always reminded me that I am human, I am alive, and I can do it. I would also make sure to LIST DOWN EVERYTHING to allow me to plan ahead of time.”
For Badillo, “Practice time + work management! The most important thing is that you remember what motivates you and why you signed up for what you’re doing in the first place, because that’s the drive that’ll keep you going and pushing for more when things get hard.”
For Cu, “In maintaining [a] balance, [I stay] committed to my roles, and manage my time wisely. This would mean being wholly dedicated in getting all my org and school work done for most of the week, but also making time to try catching up with friends.”
For Go, “there’s a reason why “student” comes first before “leader”. At this point, being a student will always be your first priority. In BMS, we strongly practice a priority list: “family-acads-org”. Whenever we are conflicted on what to accomplish first, we always come back to this list.”
With this list, we hope we got you inspired and motivated to run as a student-leader for your class, organization or community. It is a challenging but rewarding experience that would mold you into a better student and citizen. So take that leap of faith, choose to serve, and be part of something bigger!
Reference: https://www.leadmn.org/5-reasons-why-you-should-run-student-leadership-position
