Committing to Leadership

• Commiting myself as a second year student brought with it many challenges. As I delved into my role within residence life and  student government, I found it more difficult to  maintain many of the relationships I had built throughout my first year. No longer did I live in the same sense of community, 2 doors down from dear friends, and a bed away from my best friend and roommate. Geographically, we still lived within easy proximity, still shared meals in the dining halls. However, our academics were becoming more focused on our distinct career paths, our jobs were taking up spare time, and new friendships were blooming too. 
• Yet, I would not trade these changes, for it gave me a new found sense of independence I had not otherwise been exposed to in Simpson. I became an avid member of Student Government of Loyola Chicago (SGLC), now working within the judicial branch, ensuring organizational accountability and structure. Furthermore, I became involved with a group of students within SGLC known as 'Students for Worker Justice.' I sought social justice in an action-oriented sense, looking to embody the tenet of Catholic Social Teaching which calls for the rights of the worker.
• However, these two involvements, while dear to my heart, brought with them their own internal issues, leading to a relatively public conflict of interest. The details and the persons involved are irrelevant to the conflict itself. Nonetheless, the lessons of leadership I learned remain deeply engrained in my own values and experiences. The passionate student group seeking workers' rights took several missteps towards the end of the first semester, putting their actions before organizational responsibility and collective deicison making. Operating as an autonomous student group under the auspices of the SGLC name, the collective group and the student body president found themselves in a predicament which led to both internal division as well as repercussions from the Office for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. As an associate justice and member of the workers' rights group I had to make a decision, to decide 'which hat to wear.' Considering my roles and responsibilities, I recognized I had taken an oath to uphold our Article of Governance within SGLC...I had made a commitment to the organization and the student body. This was a moment in which I reazlied that commitment, as it relates to personal growth, has to not only include time and dedication, but also a moral imperative to do what is right, to act with integrity in all moments, despite other mitigating factors. 
• Thus, I voted, ruled, and co-authored the judicial opinion which concluded that our student body president was guilty of all those counts he had been charged with violating. Though, I must note, the decision was not made because of personal politics as some might have believed. No, it was about re-focusing ourselves and re-committing to the student body. Consquently, this meant revitalizaing the promises we had made, the oaths we had taken, as members of SGLC. I have, in turn, attached both the judicial report and the press release which explains these processes and their relevance to both my and SGLC's re-newed commitment to leadership.