February 7

We had to watch a TED talk for this assignment. I was annoyed about this when I first hear about it but when I watched Chimamanda Adichie talk about the danger of a single story, I realized it was actually good and worth my time. Really, you should go watch it, if you've got about 19 minutes. So, because it was good and this is a blog about how terrible this class is, I won't talk about it anymore.

By the way, I have no idea why we watched this video. As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with this class. That's probably why it was good. The prompt for the reflective essay that's due this week has nothing to do with the video, either. I guess they just felt like having us watch it. The essay prompt read as follows:

“Reflection Paper 1.

The purpose of this reflection paper is to explore your initial perspectives on leadership and service. Provide a carefully considered definition of leadership. Then, to explain what you feel are the most important connections between leadership and service, locate examples of leadership (in your own experience or that of another person you know or admire). Describe these examples in some detail, paying special attention to how they can be considered purposeful, inclusive, empowering and ethical. Using these examples, explain how you see leadership as related to doing service for the good of society.

Your paper should consist of a response to the prompt above that is carefully crafted and edited. The minimum length is 2 pages, double spaced, in an 11 or 12 point font with standard 1 inch margins.”

I know my initial perspectives on leadership (it's something I don't like doing), and service (helping people in need is very important). There, I just summed them up in two parenthetical statements. They want us to write a paper on this? To be fair, it's only really one page long. The first task, defining leadership, seemed incredibly easy to me.

Now what's the definition for "smart-ass"?

I decided not to use this definition and instead write some BS. Not writing this paper with heart? I've got it covered from the first paragraph. Moving right along: connecting service and leadership. Yes, when someone leads, they provide service to the people they are leading. Granted, it may not be a good service (Hitler was a leader who provided his subjects with the terrible service of genocide), but it will be some sort of service. Really, it's not hard to connect those two, especially if you decide to write about a volunteer leader.

Also, describe how leadership is purposeful? In order to lead, you need a purpose. You can't lead and have nothing to lead towards. Why even bother telling us to write about that? Oh wait. I forgot. It's this class, of course they're going to do things that are annoying and don't make sense. Silly me.

Also, for the good of society? Is that something like the greater good? If you've seen Hot Fuzz, or are fairly well-read, you'll know the danger inherent in that phrase. Just trust me, serving the greater good is not always the ethical or good thing to do.

As I was writing this paper, I realized I needed two examples. I didn't write this, but I was very tempted to: “Another wonderful leader was your mom.” Heck, for all I know, it's true. Then again, I don't know my teacher's mom, so I couldn't write anything about one time when she led something awesome. Hey, I can dream. Maybe my teacher's mom will lead a revolution that liberates me and my people from having to take this class. ¡Viva la Revolucion!