Am I the leader I believe I truly am? This was the question that kept on roaming my mind during the discussion of our third topic, leadership. With Kuya Ryan’s meaningful quotes and wonderful presentation of the traits of a good leader, I was able to reflect and really examine my own self id I am the leader I perceive myself to be. Questions started to flash thorough my mind, asking myself if I possessed those traits. That was the part when my mind started to recall some past experiences. As the discussion continued, I realized that in some instances in my past encounters, I had been more of a boss and not of a leader. I admitted my weakness and flaws and decided to focus on what traits I needed to develop, to learn and to acquire. After criticizing myself, I was able to note my weaknesses which gave me more reason to learn as much as possible during the camp’s seminar. I felt that I had the responsibility to acquire as much skills and knowledge in leadership so that I can use it and share it to my fellow students in Leyte for the benefit of our school and of our region. There was still plenty of room for improvement within myself. With the discussion alone, I became more inspired and motivated to unleash the best leader inside me.

By the end of the discussion, we were given the time to be engrossed in working the different committees. At the programs committee, where I volunteered, I was able to enhance my skills and boost my confidence due to the exposure I had when we prepared and collected the venue, supplies and outputs of the caption-making for Photojournalism. I can honestly say that I was able to do the best of my abilities during our immersion. I can feel the sense of pride and satisfaction in a job well done. I truly appreciate Kuya Mike’s recognition and appreciation of the simple deeds that I did during the immersion. It proves the fact that leaders need to appreciate, to recognize and to empower their members. He showed me a fantastic example of a leader and that’s what I wanted to be. The committee immersion helped me in many ways. It did an awesome job in enhancing my skills, improving my strengths and slowly correcting my flaws. After all, leaders are made, not born. Leadership skills can certainly be learned, given the right exposure and proper venue for development.

In this country, we really need good leaders, not merely bosses and managers. It is said that a boss says ‘Go!” while a leader says “Let’s go!”. I firmly believe that each and everyone has the potential and capability of becoming a great leader in some ways or another. All we really need to do is to make a choice and to conduct a little “self-check”, examining the potential leader within ourselves.