Today in Prom Committee I decided to get involved and to do as much as I could to make myself an active member. As a group we were discussing fundraising opportunities, so I saw this as an opportunity to get involved in two different ways. One of the ideas for fundraising is during the Open House next Thursday, selling raffle tickets, and Mrs. Hyer asked for volunteers to attend the Open House and take turns selling raffle tickets and handing out flyers at booths to the parents and students who attend. I decided to take this as an opportunity to help, so I wrote my name on the list of volunteers. I see this as taking my first step toward achieving learning outcome 4, which is to work collaboratively with others. I did not know for sure who else would volunteer, and to be totally honest, I am close with some people in Prom Committee, and others not so much. Volunteering to help at the Open House is what I consider to be my first step toward working collaboratively with others because I volunteered and promised myself and the group that I would work together with whoever else volunteered for that evening, and do my best to make the evening successful and productive with the help of other people.
The second way I pushed myself to get involved was to suggest an additional fundraising activity, which is a yard sale. I thought it would be a good idea to have students and teachers bring in items from home that they no longer want, and once enough items were gathered, we could ask for volunteers from Prom Committee to sell the items. I suggested the idea, and Mrs. Hyer told me that since it was my idea, I can help to organize the event. When I heard this at first, I decided to put on an enthusiastic face for everyone and begin immediately asking questions for clarification ("Who will I go to, to confirm that this can take place?" "When? Where?"), even though on the inside I was really thinking this; 'Oh god. I may be an outspoken person and I may talk more than my share, but I can't persuade people to do anything, I don't have the ability to convince people to do things. How will I persuade people to bring in enough items? How can I make my idea sound like a good one to the rest of the school so that they will get involved?' In the past I was always hesitant to do things I wanted to do, because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make my ideas sound good to others, and that I didn't have a powerful enough voice to make a difference. This held me back from joining student government these past few years, but I need to become a leader. I need to be able to take on a leadership role and present my ideas to others in a way that works, and accomplish something. I saw this as my first step toward achieving learning objective 2, undertaking new challenges. Stepping into a leadership role, organizing an event, and presenting my ideas to many people and spreading the word is a challenge for me, even though it may not seem like it to other people. Part of it is because I am afraid that people don't like me, and therefore will shoot down my ideas and I won't get the support I need in order to get something done. However this time I really do think I have a good idea, and that it will benefit Prom Committee and raise some money, so I am taking this as an opportunity to spread the word to others, and carry out my idea and make the end result worth the effort.
I saw this week as me taking my first big jump into becoming an active member of Prom Committee, and by doing so, I am hoping to step away from being a quiet voice, and hoping to become a leader, a contributor, and someone who is able to put my ideas to action, and to help others do the same with their ideas as well.
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