July 7, 2013. Yesterday in our reflection, we discussed the multiple ways in which a leader could lead effectively. But before we could analyze how to lead we had to define what we thought a leader was. To better analyze a leader, our group picked apart the multiple qualities Pablo and Gustavo have. For those who don’t know, Pablo and Gustavo are the two young adults who oversaw all of the work we did this week in Santa Ana. Our group then decided that a good leader: leads by example, is able to work well with others, and does more than they say. We went on to talk about many types of leaders such as: the ones who are in your face telling you to work, the silent ones who lead by example, and even the ones who are friendly and just encourage others to work. To conclude our reflection at the end of Saturday we went around giving each other compliments.
During the day, we painted murals and worked in the garden with the Santa Ana kids and the San Jose kids. Before we started this week, we were told that the Santa Ana kids and the San Jose kids rarely saw each other and didn’t communicate that much. At the beginning of the week you could visibly see how separated the Americans, San Jose, and Santa Ana kids were. But as the week progressed, through doing community service, all the groups became friends. As I think about DC, the same thing is happening. Kids from different parts of DC are isolated to just their area. I believe, after seeing Santa Ana, those who are wealthier transform from well-off kids to kids who want to give back, that if kids try to change poverty together they can better communicate with each other in the future.
Nebe Y., Bullis High School