Being a Leader has always been an important concept me. I grew up being the oldest child out of a family of 10 cousins. Through this, my entire life has consisted of leading and being a role model for my younger relatives. This accustomed me to leadership without even realizing it.
As I grew older, I exposed myself to different opportunities as my passion for leadership grew. In High School, I was Drum Major for two years. This position was a heavy responsibility. Our band was going through dramatic changes and hard times, and I felt the responsibility to be a kind, graceful being for the sake of the band. This position taught me not only how to teach music and conduct in front of a marching band, but also how to be a friend, role model, and advice-giver. Every person in the band knew that I was there for them. I had to stay positive through all of the negativity, no matter how difficult it was. I had been told that I was the face of the band, and that's what I pushed myself to become. Flash forward to present day. As a sophomore, I am currently an Alto Saxophone Visual Section Leader for the MRDs. This experience, so far, has already taught me about myself as a leader. I am still strongly focusing on my attitude to the rest of my section. If I’m not enjoying rehearsal time, how can I expect them to? I try my hardest to be an empathetic leader, and to lead by example. Even in past examples, my efforts were toward every kinds of student with ranging abilities, (http://ericaunroe.weebly.com/leadership/making-making and http://ericaunroe.weebly.com/leadership/experience-remix) As the years went by, I realized that being a Leader is much more than waving your hands and talking about articulations. It’s also about being a role model for everyone that looks up to you. As I advance into my teaching, I hope to strengthen my ability to be a good example for everyone that I encounter, students or not. Aside from the emotional aspect of being a leader, there are still goals in mind to be improved on by the time I graduate from JMU. I feel that I can definitely improve my teaching skills. I still tend to get nervous in front of a group of people. This is a natural reaction, it happens no matter how comfortable I am with the people I’m leading. I feel that this reaction will become less and less with more practice, which I will have a fair amount of in the very near future. Nevertheless, leadership is my passion, and has been since I can remember. I love being a role model, and getting to teach others about music, while still being a friend to others and someone to look up to when they need one. |
EricaThis page will be for videos of myself teaching, lesson plans, and reflections. Archives
February 2020
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