Growing Into Leadership
When I began college, I did not have a defined leadership style. From my past experiences with academic groups, I often found myself naturally assuming a leadership role due to my expertise in the subject matter, not necessarily due to leadership competence. In fact, transitioning from a high school where I was among the top performers to a college Statistics program filled with highly intelligent students, I felt severely unqualified for the role.
It was not until I enrolled in my first hospitality class that I felt I had finally found my niche. Although the connection wasn't immediate, the faculty and student groups were composed of genuinely warm and welcoming individuals who encouraged me to be authentic and helped me build confidence in my abilities. It was then that I knew that this was the industry and environment I wanted to continue my growth.
Since then, I've enrolled in numerous leadership courses within my curriculum and have been given plenty of opportunities to demonstrate leadership in various group projects. One particularly memorable leadership experience occurred outside the school environment. In my workplace, I was entrusted with the responsibility of training new employees. It was during this time that I truly applied the coaching and training lessons I had learned in class. What intrigued me most during this experience was discovering the challenge of finding a balance between being too lenient and overly demanding. There were instances when I was overly forgiving, hindering trainees from thinking critically and learning from mistakes. Conversely, there were times when I was too strict, expecting them to handle every detail. Though it required practice, the overall experience proved to be incredibly fulfilling and enlightening.
I am incredibly grateful for the structure of SDSU’s Payne School of HTM, which I believe serves as a role model for how colleges should prepare their students for life beyond academia. Much of my growth as both a professional and a leader is attributed to their instruction and guidance.