Redefined: How a Leadership Organization Impacted My Student Life
Tags: Covid 19, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Summer, Leadership Development

Canadian Student Leadership Association, a non-profit leadership organization.

Near the end of grade 11, I got accepted as a Culture Board member of the Student Council at my high school. As part of my newly adopted role, I attended their first meeting and got introduced to the Canadian Student Leadership Association(CSLA), a leadership organization that focuses on improving leadership skills for students. Our Student Council leaders encouraged us to enroll in their certification program and get us started on becoming better leaders.

Consider the period when I enrolled in the program. The COVID-19 pandemic. The reason everyone has to wear masks, stay home as much as possible, and socially distance themselves from others. My experience was void of large, in-person conferences and other large gatherings, but it was worthwhile and engaging for an online program. The certification course consists of video lessons from leaders within the organization and others who are well-recognized in Canada and are TED Talk speakers. There are also lessons in the form of articles that center around specific skills for students to hone in. Usually following the lessons are assignments that ask questions about the lesson or a proposal to concoct a creative project that relates to the lesson. These modules can be completed at an independent pace, making it even more convenient(unless you are a professional at procrastinating).

Enrolling in the course has been a rewarding and productive experience. It propelled me to take advantage of more volunteering opportunities and has insightfully redefined my perception of being a leader. There are an abundant amount of lessons that I could name that had an impact on my leadership abilities, but for the contents of this article, I will focus on a few.

One of the skills that have improved from the program is reading. For the obvious reasons, reading is significant for leadership skills because it enables people to communicate more effectively. The module based on reading expands on the purpose of reading and emphasizes the reason why excellent readers make excellent leaders. From better decision-making to greater creativity, these benefits can be immensely helpful to anyone in any environment. From then on, I made a goal to read more books that I found interest in and I have been successful in my endeavour so far. Since completing the module, I have read ten books, ranging from non-fiction to dramatic fiction, as opposed to zero beforehand. It has enhanced my leadership skills by making me more empathetic with people who have different perspectives and experiences and enabling me to contribute more to my Student Council meetings with thoughtful ideas.

Another module that was one of my highlights of the program is The 40 Developmental Assets. The module informs students of many circumstances and internal values that add purpose to one’s life. The assets are categorized into several types of themes such as empowerment, constructive uses of time, and positive values. I highly recommend visiting this module multiple times as a reminder of how one should conduct themselves as an individual and the values that one should instill themselves. One of the values from the developmental assets that I have recently been focusing on is promoting equality and social justice. That focus has galvanized me to join the Social Justice Initiative at my high school where students and educators educate others on issues of social justice such as sexism, racism, and xenophobia through meetings, research, and discussions. I have been given the chance to lead multiple discussions and am forever grateful for it as it has given me confidence in public speaking and presentation skills.

I’m still enrolled in the program and I am the first person to be a student in Level 4 of their certification program. The work may seem overwhelming and that is often the reason many students don’t attempt to make it past level one. Nonetheless, completing a few assignments whenever feasible shouldn’t be an issue considering that the course can be completed based on one’s independent goals; it isn’t structured like a usual secondary school course. The course is convenient and always teaches relevant lessons that can be applied to any environment, not just situations that directly involve leadership. So for individuals who are looking to make an impact on their school or improve their skills, take the time to start at CSLA.