Learning to be a Leader in School and Life
"Were you in this junior high school?"
This was a question presented to me by a student journalist when I became the co-editor of the student magazine and asked him for a contribution. The boy, like many other students in China, was biased about my education in junior high school. Students who study in the same junior and senior high school do not like students who take the entrance examination to go to a different high school. Because I had attended a different junior high school, many students (including this boy) did not want to work with a stranger.
Because I was a newcomer, most of the students did not want to "waste" their time writing articles for me. Though the process was going to be tough, I wouldn't let it be a setback for me. The phrase "giving up" is not in my vocabulary. Rather than complain about their bias, I decided I must prove my ability to produce a wonderful magazine. Persevering is not always equal to success. But giving up meant I would have no chance to succeed.
I called a meeting of all the group leaders of the school magazine and we discussed the general content of the magazine. We decided to have seven sections in the magazine with different topics including novels, interviews, school events, etc. Each section would be separated by a color of the rainbow.
When I thought about how to inspire students to write articles for the magazine, I realized that I was good at giving speeches. So, at the flag raising ceremony, I delivered a speech to the whole school. I encouraged the students to write on any topic they wanted because there would be freedom of speech and expression in my magazine. I told them that writing is the best way to express an opinion. Of course, I didn't forget to establish a competition to select the best writers to reward them.
While I was the sanitation monitor last year, I learned that to be a good leader, you need to utilize every resource 100%. It doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself. I applied this lesson to my magazine group. I wrote up the plan for the magazine and asked every officer in my department to discuss it with the special journalists. I then met with each student journalist to ask their opinions about the plan for the magazine. I was pleased that they were impressed with my originality and that they were then willing to write for the school magazine.
Two years later, the results show that I made the right decision and we were successful. I organized four more school magazines and the sales volume passed 1500. On the last day as co-editor of the school magazine, I sold the last book. As I handed it to a student, I sighed in relief. Everything I suffered became a distant memory and I was satisfied that I had overcome another challenge.
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