Two weeks ago, on the 29th of July, from six in the evening to about eight pm, I attended a talk that is about being a student leader. I was nominated by my care person, Ms. Natasha. I was initially reluctant to become one due to past incidents which involves my horrible leadership skills, such as destroying a camp or scaring my juniors after an ejaculation of apoplexy due to an extreme amount of stress. Nonetheless, I was interested and went for the talk with two of my course mates Lydia & Dawn.
The talk was actually quite enjoyable even though its topic caused me brief trauma attacks as it constantly reminded me of my past. One of the main speakers was a man with a rather good sense of humour. Regrettably, his name escapes me. His jokes and strange riddles kept me awake despite the talk being right after classes end, & I’m pretty sure everyone is tired after classes. In comparison, Lydia and Dawn was probably dozing off or staring into space. The main speaker mostly talked about the qualities required in order to be a good leader and what being a student leader is about. Being a leader can be summed up into a short sentence invented by yours truly: “A leader is charismatic and influential”.
In order to be a student leader, you need to be liked by others but at the same time, your decisions needs to be just, & not what the majority chooses. This will probably be impossible since people would probably hate you for making a decision that is not well-received, but you’d be surprised by how well-known you will get for your right decisions. If you are making the right choices, and being well received by your entourage, you are a good leader. A student leader also needs charisma so that you can influence people into listening to you.
As the speaker progressed with the talk, I reflected on my past, which is quite dark in comparison to what I am presently. I have had bad incidents in which I was a leader in my previous CCA, the NCC. My most recent incident was when I came back to help out my freshly promoted juniors in educating them about being leaders. I taught them several wrong things by accident and was eventually lectured by my officer. I benefitted from that but almost ruined the CCA if my erroneous teaching was eventually spread around.
Still, as I continued thinking, I began to wonder why was I nominated when I clearly had bad leadership skills. Perhaps I was thinking too little of myself and I lack confidence. All this thinking brought me back to the time when I had a great time playing the role of a leader in NCC. I was dressed in a smart soldier uniform that is as white as snow with a cool hat that resembles a police officer’s. I greeted Professor Yacob Ibrahim (not directly but in a form of a unified salute with my platoon mates) and felt proud. And then, there was another time where I became a squad leader of a brief performance and the day was flawless. I began to realize, perhaps there is a leader inside me.
After about an hour or so, the man transferred the microphone to another person, a former TP student who talked about the NYAA (National Youth Achievement Award). It is an activity that requires dedication, a trait required in a leader. It was optional but I recognized it almost too well as I was asked to do at during my NCC years. I obtained Silver back then and I wondered if I should be chasing Gold. Still, I listened and even had memories of me taking part in the event like doing physical activities or taking part in donation events. After that, the talk came to an end.
The talk made me reflect deeply about my past and the kind of person I am. I had a change of heart about my leadership skills and I felt good. Perhaps, I might actually want to be a student leader. I’m not sure about Lydia and Dawn’s feelings about the talk but they seemed fairly interested. I might go for any future talks about the Student Leadership Program and hopefully become one soon.
Also, here are some photos of Hussain in person:
This is Hussain!
This is Hussain in a kampong.
This is the smart NCC uniform Hussain was talking about!
All right, that’s it. Thank you Hussain for such an interesting reflection! It sincerely & whole-heartedly shows us your reflection about your ‘dark’ past – Don’t worry too much about it, everyone has their ‘dark’ moments – & the way you were inspired to try & pick up leadership skills once more will definitely inspire many future leaders as well.
Your resident blogger,
Jaiden
All right, that’s it. Thank you Hussain for such an interesting reflection! It sincerely & whole-heartedly shows us your reflection about your ‘dark’ past – Don’t worry too much about it, everyone has their ‘dark’ moments – & the way you were inspired to try & pick up leadership skills once more will definitely inspire many future leaders as well.
Your resident blogger,
Jaiden
