I want to please everyone, but that is not possible. As a leader, people look up to you for help with their problems. You want to help everyone, but in doing so, you manage to somehow make another person upset. It is a constant back and forth of reaching someone’s goal, while crushing another. The idea of being a leader sounds magical, having those look up to you and being able to ‘mother’ them, as my friends say. 

Being honest, it is an overwhelming feeling. I still feel like a freshman coming into this class, but in reality I have been a part of Etched In Stone for three years. Seeing Serena Bettis, the Editor in Chief when I was a sophomore, run the first J12 class was intriguing. I was never apart of J2 when Journalism 1 and 2 were separate, which means I never saw how Journalism 2 worked as a single unit. Then the Editors in Chief were Karen Manley and Olivia Doro, who helped me become the person I am today. They went through the J12 class for the second year it had been a program, which, of course, had road bumps. 

Mr. Degear told me the other day that almost every EIC has felt the same way I do. Being a leader is difficult and spending my days during the class trying to make everyone happy is draining. I have always been a person who wants everyone around them to be happy, no matter what it takes. The only issue is someone always gets burned, no matter how hard I try to pour water onto that flame. No matter how hard I try, not everyone will be pleased, which is something you have to live with. That is a lesson that you have to learn at a point in your life, because it is one of the most important things you have to know. As soon as that clicked into my mind, I realized that if I did not let go of pleasing everyone, it would make me miserable. It does not matter if you are the president of a club or helping to coach a sports team, you will most likely feel the same way I did. That realization of being a leader while managing to focus on yourself helps you to lead. 

If you do not let yourself make mistakes as a leader, it can be difficult to grow as a person. Sometimes admitting you have made a mistake when people look up to you leaves you feeling defeated, but it does help you grow. To the people who are in my position and constantly feeling so lost: you are not. Your peers or other people may look up to you and although you might mess up, it shows them they are also able to grow. Growth and mistakes go hand and hand; it is okay.