Alexis Williams | Social Media Manager

This week’s post is bound to turn some heads. And that is okay! Just a reminder that these posts are intended to focus on the irritating sides of things—even things that I truly do love.

I love being a student leader. I love taking charge, I love making change, and I love being responsible. What I love most, is all is the things I learn about myself and about others. Being a leader to others of my own age has completely shaped who I am as a person and without going through the struggles that come with being a student leader, I would never be where I am today.

Despite all of the wonderful things offered to me as a student leader, there are also quite a few negatives.

Whether it’s being well-known among staff, crunched for time, being triple-booked with meetings, being discouraged to say no, dealing with difficult conversations, or anything of the sort, all of these have extreme positives as well as extreme negatives.

Let me reiterate, I love being a student leader and I wouldn’t change it for the world but if I had the opportunity to improve my experiences, this is where I would begin.

I am sick of being restricted; absolutely and completely sick of it. I am over being watched and judged about things that I want to say or do.

As a student leader, I am watched and judged more than just the average Joe. People read these blogs, people read my Facebook statuses, people take screenshots of snapchats, people forward emails, people are quick to mention any fault I may have had because apparently I am not allowed to be human.

Some people forget that I am human too. While yes, most of the time I am on my A game, have an answer for almost anything, and keep a certain level of poise, there has to come a time where I step out of my position as a student leader and become Alexis. Individually, I love to have fun, be loud, dance, go out to eat, you name it… I would consider myself pretty simple but I also love to be adventurous. At times, I just want to share my personality, not my position.

I am a student leader. Point blank. That describes a lot of who I am—I like to create change, to lead others to be creative, to stretch beyond what is seen as “traditional” or “okay” and to create new traditions. And despite all of the opportunities that I love, it does get frustrating to constantly be held to a higher standard. But hey, if it weren’t for these positions I wouldn’t have accomplished as much as I have. I wouldn’t take back anything, but I would love it if student leaders did not always have so much riding on their shoulders and for others to accept that while we value our positions, we also want to have a college experience just like our peers.

Graphic by Justice Gage