Raise your voice: It’s time to step up
Published in Uncaged, May 2022
As seniors leave, new leadership roles emerge
by Kaitelyn Walker, Uncaged Editor-in-Chief
I was not always a leader. This is ironic considering the number of leadership roles I have held throughout my school: editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, class president, student council officer, team captain. My junior year cross country season changed my perspective on what it means to be a leader. A leader isn’t bound by one definition. Leadership isn’t a trait one is born with but rather a mindset created by an individual. Great leaders take all their negative experiences and setbacks and use them to grow and guide others that are true leaders. I may never have realized this truth if my junior year of cross country hadn’t gone the way it did.
Before junior year even started, I was hurt and I couldn’t run. The prior season I surprised myself and ran very strong. I expected to have another great season, so naturally, I was devastated when it did not turn out the way I imagined. It was hard watching the sport I loved for almost ten years turn into something that hurt me and frustrated me. I spent many sleepless nights and tiring days frustrated and upset with myself and my performances. One day I even threw my shoes, my watch, my old bibs, and all of my cross country shirts into a garbage bag because I was ready to quit.
Except I couldn’t just quit. I refused to let this uncontrollable setback get the best of me. All I could do was focus on something I could better control: being a leader. I focused on growing myself and finding ways to help my team stay positive. I read articles about nutrition, annotated a book by a former Olympian about improving my mental game, spoke with a teammate’s parent who ran in college, had many long conversations with my coach, and practiced, focusing on the task at hand. Having to take a step back and not focused on the times I was running in my races was difficult. I hated not performing as well as I wanted. I had to accept this moment and that I couldn’t change the past, but I still had a future that I could determine the outcome of. Once I finally relieved some of this pressure, I started to improve, and my team did too. We had unexpectedly lost our coach that season, so we were lost at first. Stepping up to help lead was what was needed for the team to succeed again. Being forced to rediscover my why in cross country allowed me to redefine myself.
My performances don’t define me anymore. I care more about being the best person and leader possible. Although I didn’t reach my goals with my performance, I took something very important away from the season: being a leader isn’t about who runs the fastest or is the best. It is who can prevail in the face of adversities and focus on bettering the whole. I have insight and experiences that I could share with those younger than me. Teammates, bandmates, and friends look up to me. I used this experience to be the role model I would want to have. I have learned how to regulate my emotions, to appear calm and collected. My emotions and mood can set the entire tone of a practice.
Leaders are need, they provide an example of how to act. Stepping up to a leadership role can be incredibly fulfilling along with bringing the much-needed leadership in the school. As the year winds down and the seniors leave, new leaders must step up to fill the spaces left.
This article is being published as-is from the original, which was published in the May 2022 edition of Uncaged, the student-run independent student news of Stockbridge High School. For more information about Stockbridge’s award-winning student newspaper, go to https://uncagednews.com.
Uncaged articles are sponsored by The Stockbridge Area Educational Foundation. SAEF is currently looking for new board members. For more information on SAEF visit www.panthernet.net/our-district/saef.
