SAIL

Hi LLC-ers!

I know many of you have already ‘liked’ my Facebook page for my re-election, but to take it a step further… I wanted to emphasize my background in leadership and as a public servant. Take a look:

As a native Virginian, Lauren Waldron has served numerous leadership positions for the past six years, acted as the voice for the people, and led the most diverse student body in her school district. Since the age of fourteen, Lauren was active in her middle school’s Student Government as Student Body President. She found her passion for leading and encouraging her peers to excel and succeed at their own personal goals and continued with her platform throughout her high school years. From freshman year until her junior year, Lauren had the advantageous role of being Class President. In her senior year, Lauren won her Student Government election as President of the Entire Student Body. Currently, Lauren is a part of the Leadership and Community Engagement Living Learning Community at George Mason where she is able to take a Leadership class and volunteer on and off campus to directly make a difference in the lives of others.
During the spring of 2012 as a senior in high school, Lauren helped her local mayor’s re-election campaign which began her political campaign work. It was her mission to help Roanoke Mayor David Bowers campaign by GOTV initiatives such as: preparing strategic regional phone calls, identifying voter information, and executing promotional tasks. Additionally, over the summer of 2012, she moved to Richmond to intern in the main Richmond headquarters for former Governor of Virginia and newly elected United States Senator Tim Kaine’s campaign. While interning, Lauren used my past political campaign experience to promote Kaine’s campaign by going door-to-door and distributing literature throughout the regions of Chesterfield and Midlothian, helped to assist the campaign staff at various events, and planned out strategies with the Regional Field Director to inform voters about Senator Kaine.
As a Senator in Student Government at George Mason University, consider it an honor and privilege serving the nation’s most diverse student body. Senator Waldron acted as a representation on behalf of the student body at the Virginia State Capitol and General Assembly to lobby for increased support and funding. As a Senator, Lauren has sat on four House Committees: University Services, University Life, University Relations, and M.A.S.O.N. Her goal for this year is to bridge the gap between the faculty and student body by enhancing a clear communication channel. Feel free to contact me via social media or my email: lwaldron@masonlive@gmu.edu for comments!

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Some of you may know of the Mumford & Sons song “Where Are You Now?“. I recently listened to this song, and realized how many people I wonder that about. I don’t always think in the same harsh and cold context of the complete lyrics, but rather in the sense of the raw and curious title.

For example: I wonder about my childhood Alexandria who left my hometown when I was just starting elementary school. She accidentally left her cheetah print headband at my house, and to this day I still have it. I haven’t been in contact with her since then, but sometimes I wonder offhandedly about her.

Though it’s not just Alexandria I find myself wondering about. Oftentimes my mind drifts to the people  that I meet when doing service work. They stay with me, on the backroads of my mind, years later.

The polite Egg-Salad Sandwich Man I encountered through Martha’s Table, the heartbreaking man who’s mother I visited in a Tennessee hospital ICU, or the thoughtful Philadelphia waitress who bought me Tastykakes on her own dime. And to think, I don’t even always know their names. How, how, could I have such a desire to know? How could I have such a deeply ingrained experience to remember for that long? We thirst for knowledge. It makes us ambitious. It gets us in trouble. It enlightens us.

Unfortunately, this is part of the human experience: to have a curiosity that cannot always be quenched. But this shouldn’t be something that hinders us. Instead, I encourage you to let it be something that inspires you to go out in the world and discover all you can from all those you meet.

Just because you met someone once doesn’t mean that they’re insignificant. That’s hardly the case. Don’t be afraid to wonder where they are now. And maybe? Let that wondering lead to wandering.

Coming up this April, Mason will be holding its annual International Week (IWeek),  this year will be it’s 33rd! For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, it is the one week in April where Mason as a whole takes the time to appreciate the different cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds of its students. It’s an exciting time where we can pay tribute to our roots.

It just amazes me how with each day I am able to surround myself with people different from me. Going into college for the first year, this is exactly what I wanted – to get out of my comfort zone and really challenge myself to experience new things.

To learn about other people, and what is important to them can help you in life no matter what you plan to do; it creates better communication. Recently, I’ve had the privilege to meet with the coordinator for the Global Crossings LLC, Amy, and many others of the International Programs staff and have learned so much about how we’ve grown as a community. They’ve help me realize that for many of the international students at Mason, events like these really do matter.

I think an important characteristic of being a leader and not being quick to judge.

A lot of times it is really easy to judge someone on what you heard about them or by their stereotype or by what you have seen them do or heard them say. All in all, false perceptions can be very misleading and can lead to serious problems. Often enough, I feel that a lot of genuinely good people are alienated in society because they may not seem “cool” or negative comments may be associated with them, however, I try to be the type of person that doe not judge someone based off of things that I have heard. Instead, I would much rather get to know someone and see them for who they really are rather than taking someone’s else’s opinion of them. Maybe I will have a different experience with an individual from the next person. Similarly, stereotypes can be really cruel and hurtful, and I’m sure that no one would want to have hurt someone’s feelings because they did not take the time to get to know them for the person they truly are. While some people use the childhood phrase, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” that isn’t true. Words have a lasting impression on people and can potentially taunt someone for a lifetime.

Think about it:

Are the words you using positive or negative?

Would they make or break someone’s day?

-Re’Necia Coda

Similar to Chauncey’s post, in high school I was extremely involved in co-curricular activities and various organizations around school (all of which were quite exhausting), so when I arrived at Mason I decided that I would take a back seat and allow others to take charge. With no job on campus and no memberships to any organizations on campus either, now I realize all the wasted time I exhausted over last semester. I began to think of all the hours I could have contributed to an organization on campus, or participating in various activities. What I learned is that leadership is not a light switch that you can flip on and off. And given day of the week at any given time, one’s leadership skills can be tested. It is most definitely an honor and privilege to be able to lead others, so I personally took it as a lesson to myself that i need to appreciate all the opportunities that I am granted.

My 10 Top Enlightened Leadership Light Bulbs

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Please visit this site for leadership “light bulbs,” helpful hints for young leaders!

-Re’Necia C.

In preperation for our community engagement projects, I have been thinking alot about service projects and events that I have attended in the past. One thing that I noticed is that sometimes community service feels like work, while other times it just feels fun. But I also realized that it’s not the event itself that is either work or fun, but yet something entirely different. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know if anyone else has been tasked with doing a StrengthsQuest Assessment. I just recently had to do one. The results is what I want to talk about.

According to the test, I am:

Activator- People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into  action. They are often impatient.

Command- People who are especially talented in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

Communication- People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Harmony- People who are especially talented in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.

Woo- People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.