Page 1: The Inital Letter
Coming into a year full of changes and new norms, leadership as a whole has changed in many ways, and as a freshman representative this can come as a whirl. Pre-COVID I had a list of expectations and realities of the year, but they have changed due to distance learning and the boundaries that separate us that we are used to. Core Camp and the training with Scott Backovtch really pondered the question, “Can we make the year as good if not better with careful planning?” This program has been known to exceed expectations and to go above and beyond, so this year will be no different, and my goals at the World’s Greatest High School will be to reach for the stars.
An expectation is a belief that someone will or should achieve something, and I will achieve my goals for this year. To start, I expect that Homecoming, Winterfest, and all other events will be altered heavily due to social distancing. One of my goals is to put 100% of my effort into those events, so that whatever outcome that happens will be with my full effort and if we fail, we can learn to become better at that specific thing or a general topic. Another goal of mine is to constantly work on my time management, team work, consistency, and fail forward mindset. With this, only success will come out, and although from an outside perspective I could lose at something, you always gain another thing in return. A third goal for this year is self care for the new stress put on me. Coming into high school is a huge blow to the face in terms of responsibilities and homework so having self care is essential to my success in the future.
Training with Scott along with Core Camp has really opened my eyes to diverse ways to interact with the Ripon High community. Firstly, Core Camp really showed me what leaders and leadership actually does, and all of the small details that you have to perfect to achieve great events or to meet deadlines. In addition to this, Core Camp showed me how to handle tough situations by just stopping in your tracks, taking a big breath, and thinking of the ways you could get things done. Secondly, Scott Backovich, a motivational speaker and leadership coach, really showed the actual steps to get interaction with the community, actual ways for people to participate in virtual events. He showed us this by gaining trust from the community, by giving first instead of asking by doing acts of kindness with meaning. An great example of this was a brainstorming session, in which Gianna Welsh said to have a mirror and some popular music to act as a way to just jam out and love yourself, which was a great idea. Mr. Backovich also included some of his own great ideas, like a coffee shop special with hand written notes to each person who bought one, or a spirit car that would go around town with art students from Ripon High that would paint their driveway like the senior parking spots, etc. All in all, the Scott Backovich training secession was very informative and useful for the upcoming events.
At the end of my 4 years at Ripon High School, I ultimately want to be a completely different person than I am now to make the greatest positive impact as I can on the world. I want to be able to handle any sudden situation that comes my way, and with 3-4 years of homecoming and other jam packed events, I believe that I will achieve this by my senior year. I want to work as a team and be an excellent team leader in any event that I do, and be a great leader overall. Lastly, I want to have almost perfect time management skills, as this will be really useful in college and later in life.
Some final thoughts about the year are mostly questions about the future. Will we have a late Homecoming or have a Winterfest? How will we get to do events with only half of the class in hybrid learning towards the end of the school year? Will we get closer as a leadership group of stray away because of distance learning? Lastly, will leadership ever revert back to its 2018-2019 self or is the form of leadership we have now the new way we'll have it for many years to come?
Page 2: Favorite Quotes
Some quotes that I find relation to or use everyday come from various people from different parts in life. To start, Karim Seddiki stated, “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Doubting your ability and not living life to the fullest is one of the things that I want to accomplish, and this mindset I keep with me everyday, so at the end of my life I want to reflect back and say that I would not change anything about my decisions that were filled with doubt. Next, the German composer Richard Bach states, “Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.” Having an ego is one of the worst things to do, and this keeps you from becoming even better at anything you do. Thinking you are the best at whatever you think is only going to prevent you from becoming better while everyone around you progresses and bypasses you. I know this from experience, as kindergarten through eighth grade I had the ego that I was the smartest person in the grade, which was true but it was still a bad thing to do. The thing that I did which was smart while entering high school was have a mental reset to think that I am not the best anymore. This really did benefit me as I put way more effort into what I did and the end result of this reset is all high A(s) in all classes. The third quote comes from Roy T. Bennett, “Life is short. Focus on what really matters most. You have to change your priorities over time.” I really apply this quote because we only have a limited time on Earth and if you don’t prioritize things to get them done you can’t be doing the things you love. An example of this in daily life is the breaks between classes, as I do homework then so I have little or no homework as the last period ends, so I can do the things I love. The last quote comes from Barack Obama, stating, “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” This quote really resonates with me because I realized this recently and it has really paid off. Thinking something is going to happen or expecting something great without putting in the world is like being a hopeless romantic, your dreams are not going to be satisfied. Put in the work and your desired outcome will happen, and don’t give up even if you think failure is inevitable.
Page 3: Quote Part II
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” - George Bernard Shaw
This quote directly relates to my effort in the leadership year and this year overall because I have changed so much mentally and physically compared to 2020. Coming into the school year and year in general I had such a pessimistic view on everything and was not really going anywhere, I was doing with my life, playing video games 7-9 hours, and was basically rotting away. I wasn’t taking care of myself and it really showed. Change is inevitable and without a change in mindset success is impossible. I realized this after winter break, and my life has really been so much better and different than a couple of months ago. I thought, “Man, I need to do things in my life,” and the results started coming once I actually started caring. I made so many more friends, been way more active, been in shape, happy with my life, and content with my life for the first time in many years. This quote means a lot to me as a leader, because it emphasized the importance of adaptability, and this really relates to this COVID school year. We have to adapt to be successful and HOCO was a great example of how we did that. I am really proud of myself and my progress, and this is just one step to becoming a better person in the future.
Page 4: Goals
Just finishing the first quarter of high school my realities have completely changed my mindset and goals going forward. My first goal for leadership this year is to build relationships with not only the representatives but the student body, as being connected to them is key for communication and unity among the freshman class. Since distance learning has changed our entire perspective on unity, we need to get together this year. Another goal of this year is to make improvements in my professionalism, public speaking, and time management. In leadership we get to experience things that most people never get to do, like getting an interview with a professional. I need to take advantage of this to make as much improvements to myself in high school. Two short term goals I have (the end of high school) would be to stay consistent with my grades and be involved in as many things as possible to have no regrets. When I finish high school, I want to look back and say, “I did everything I wanted to do and I have to regrets,” because you are only in high school for so long, and you can’t go back to those 4 years ever again, so I will treasure the time where adult things don’t affect me. Two long term goals I have is to get my dream job and enjoy life while being young. These goals also go along with the short term goals, as I don’t want to die with regrets. If you hear advice from older individuals, they say to live life while you are young, so I want to keep that advice and take it with me. Getting my dream job, whatever it may be after deciding, is something that I want to achieve because I don’t want to be doing something for 20+ years that I am not happy doing.
Page 5: Goals Part III
6 Quotes ( short, long, and life-long goals [2 of each] ):
- End up with the highest GPA I can with my current classes by getting all A’s
- Make the year enjoyable for the freshman class by putting all of my effort into leadership events
- Maintain a great reputation among the student and teachers at RHS
- Have a balance of school work and outside activities so my experience can be the best it can for high school.
- Remain diligent in school so I can get my dream job
- Get and maintain a group of friends for life.
To start, I have been maintaining this short term goal of keeping the highest possible GPA for a freshman (4.14) and have stayed true to it with all A’s throughout the first semester and currently. This goal in itself wasn’t that complicated, so all I had to do was stay diligent throughout the year which I did and the hard work paid off. I am in a comfortable position for all of my classes and this short term goal came true not because of me wishing it, but because I worked my way through it.
Next, the other short term goal was to make the year enjoyable for the freshman class by putting all of my effort into leadership events, and I think I accomplished that so far in the year which I am proud of. Since this is a COVID year, events have been restricted, so we have only had Fall Fest and HOCO this year but they have been hits, especially HOCO. I put my sweat and tears into HOCO and it really paid off because of the feedback from my peers after the events and while talking about it at school. People enjoyed it so much and it made me so happy because I could finally bring some normalcy to our lives and we executed it perfectly (all classes) and I couldn’t have asked for a better HOCO. Although Fall Fest wasn’t that good, the freshman class really rebounded with our effort, planning, and execution of this and I am very proud of what we have done and how far we have come.
The third goal was to keep a good reputation among students and teachers at RHS, and I think I have been very good about this goal. I have kept my reputation as a good person and someone who acts smartly throughout the year online and during in person schooling so far. I haven’t made any bad decisions and have been someone can depend on and someone they can trust consistently. Maintaining a good image of yourself is great for your future and currently, because no one wants to hire you or become friends with you if you make bad decisions.
The fourth goal was to have a balance of school work and outside activities so my experience can be the best it can for high school. I have had a little bit harder time completing this especially this part of the year with AP exams and track but overall I have done a great job at this socializing a lot when I have the time online or in person. I still have a while to go for time management but overall this year has been a great mix of fun and work and I have been doing great for both parts.
The fifth goal that I had was to remain diligent in school so I can get my dream job. High school is much more difficult than elementary school by far, but I have stayed very diligent to keep my grades up even when some teachers don’t explain the concept that well and the tests are hard. I have all A’s throughout both semesters and am really proud of myself for doing my best even in a shaky COVID year where it was really hard to learn.
The sixth and final goal that I had was to get and maintain a group of friends in life. Although this is a lifelong goal, I really have been trying to experiment with different friends and although I haven’t found a permanent one, I have had many great friends and great experiences with them. Maintaining a group of friends through high school and life is really hard, and although I’m not aiming to get that in high school, it is still important to find solid friends that care and you can enjoy life with them.
Page 6: Magazine Cover
Page 7: Magazine Article
Pg. 3 When finding your career for the next 20+ years, you need to consider all of the factors that are in the job. Do you like to do the profession? Will you get bored of it? These types of questions are essential to your happiness in the workplace, and Spencer Redula has some insight on it. He states, “When looking at job options, think realistically. If you take away the influence from your parents, friends, etc. will you enjoy it? Personally, I thought I had the perfect job, being a dentist, but thinking about it, I might enjoy other things, like being a doctor or other profession. You do what you love and you will be happy.”
Pg. 7 Sometimes in life you need to relax, and going on vacation is one of the best things to do. Stress is one of the many things that can have a great impact on people, and taking a break from life is one of the things to do to fix that stress. You can relax, enjoy yourself, and not worry about things back home. Spencer Redula, a student from Ripon, says this about vacation, “Personally school has got me stressed and anxious, but taking a break sometimes, via vacation, makes it all go away.” He later elaborates, “This summer I went to Cabo San Lucas, and that experience really helped me, as it put a mental reset for all of the bad things prior that year.”
Pg. 12 Pushing yourself is one of the best things you can do to achieve your goals and become better at what you do. A daily goal, such as studying for 10 more minutes or running one more mile really pushes your boundaries. Spencer Redula, a freshman from Ripon High School, talks about how pushing himself has really made a difference. “For most of quarantine, I have been just laying down and relaxing, but I decided to make a change once air quality was healthy and school started. Every day, I go for runs, but add a little goal to it. If one day I only get to a certain point, the next day I reach for a little bit farther from it. This has also overlaid into other parts of my life, such as academics. By pushing myself, I can really see the change, even how minimal it might be, and that gives me even more motivation to do better.”
Pg.24 Time Management is one of the essential tools to use throughout your life, and mastering it as fast as you can should be a priority. It allows you to get the tough things done effectively and efficiently so you can actually do what you like. An example of great time management would be a scenario where you have an essay to do. Writing it in 30 min chunks and having a 5 min break to regain your focus is the best way to approach it, and after you finish the essay you can watch YouTube or binge watch Netflix, which most people like. Spencer Redula, a student from Ripon, California, says his ideas on time management. “Time management is one of the key skills that people desire, and doing it well is extremely hard. In today’s world, there are lots of distractions, and procrastination really affects people. If you prioritize your assignments and manage your time, you can make those distractions rewards for finishing your assignments, and this mindset is key for anything.”
Page 8: Fall Fest Gallery Slideshow
Page 9: The Role Model
Someone in my life that is a role model and has made an impact on me is my mom. She has taught me how to be a responsible, respective, and driven individual. She has taught me how to live a healthy, happy life while enjoying it to the fullest before going to college. She has shown me so many things that I can’t repay her for, and I really am so thankful for her being my mother. She is such a driven, fun, and respectable person, and having that type of role model in your life really does positively impact your life. Her work ethic and responsibility is shown through her actions, and although most people don’t see it, I understand what she does and the effort that she shows day in and day out. I can’t be more appreciative of her because she (in
my opinion) is the best mom ever.
Page 10: The Inner Animal
I chose a sloth for my personality because it almost perfectly describes me. Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day and only move to go pee, which can be represented by me playing video games and zoom all day until I go workout, then I go back to my room or the kitchen. In addition, Sloths can reach up to 30mph when threatened, which is when I have to go run a mile or other running activities, as I am fairly fast and enjoy running when I have to. I like to think of a sloth as an always tired animal and only does things when absolutely necessary. I normally get 9-11 hours of sleep and I am ALWAYS tired no matter how much I get. I will always be sleepy in the morning and only be fully woken up by lunch time, which comes across strange to not only to me but also to my friends. I am also a huge homebody, and although vacation is relaxing, I want to go back home after a couple of days. I would also like to specify what type of sloth I am, which would be a 3 toed sloth, which is easygoing and doesn't get hostile easily, which can describe me because I usually never at all get mad at anything. I can be antisocial and want to do homework sometimes, but other times I am up and doing things and living life fast. Sloths capture my sleepy and half awake side but also my intense side when it comes to exercise, and I think it will be my inner animal for a while unless things change drastically over freshman year.
Someone in my life that is a role model and has made an impact on me is my mom. She has taught me how to be a responsible, respective, and driven individual. She has taught me how to live a healthy, happy life while enjoying it to the fullest before going to college. She has shown me so many things that I can’t repay her for, and I really am so thankful for her being my mother. She is such a driven, fun, and respectable person, and having that type of role model in your life really does positively impact your life. Her work ethic and responsibility is shown through her actions, and although most people don’t see it, I understand what she does and the effort that she shows day in and day out. I can’t be more appreciative of her because she (in
my opinion) is the best mom ever.
Page 10: The Inner Animal
I chose a sloth for my personality because it almost perfectly describes me. Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day and only move to go pee, which can be represented by me playing video games and zoom all day until I go workout, then I go back to my room or the kitchen. In addition, Sloths can reach up to 30mph when threatened, which is when I have to go run a mile or other running activities, as I am fairly fast and enjoy running when I have to. I like to think of a sloth as an always tired animal and only does things when absolutely necessary. I normally get 9-11 hours of sleep and I am ALWAYS tired no matter how much I get. I will always be sleepy in the morning and only be fully woken up by lunch time, which comes across strange to not only to me but also to my friends. I am also a huge homebody, and although vacation is relaxing, I want to go back home after a couple of days. I would also like to specify what type of sloth I am, which would be a 3 toed sloth, which is easygoing and doesn't get hostile easily, which can describe me because I usually never at all get mad at anything. I can be antisocial and want to do homework sometimes, but other times I am up and doing things and living life fast. Sloths capture my sleepy and half awake side but also my intense side when it comes to exercise, and I think it will be my inner animal for a while unless things change drastically over freshman year.
Page 11: The Season of Giving
For my final, I chose to give to others, and the person assigned to me was a 13 year old asking for a Champion/Thrasher jacket or a PlayStation gift card. I chose to do this instead of community service or a gift card because it felt personal to do something for a specific person. Doing things like this is like being one on one with someone, which I greatly like compared to just donating or a general fund or giving to some general group. Although it is small, the small things do matter (we also learned this from the negative side via book study) and big impacts start small at the start. For getting the Champion jacket, myself and my mom went to Target and then Costco to get it. After not finding it at Target on Monday we went to Costco on Tuesday and found his size, luckily. We got home and packaged it up, drove to the high school, and dropped it off in the red box in the main office. Personally, there was an emotional impact on my final, but it was mostly due to the stories told by my parents as a kid. While growing up, my parents told me about their personal background, both coming from low income families and the realities of their life. Having to save money on everything you can, eating cheap meals, as well as many other things I can’t even fathom were told to me, and to be honest, I was completely shocked. After being told those things you can’t really look at people the same, so when it comes to helping people, I try to always participate because you never know if you will be in that same situation. Giving is one of the things that most people can do, and doing it especially in this time, is more helpful than ever to the people in need. This assignment was very valuable to me, and ever since COVID hit, it was all about me. Saying this makes me sound like I was narcissistic, but I was genuinely worried about the virus affecting myself and my family so I focused on myself to make sure that everything was fine. I was not going to ask stupidly and have one of my family members die because of it. However, the assignment really railed me back into giving back and helping others, which I really appreciated. Giving back not only makes me feel good but it actually does something positive and has a real effect on other people, which I love. Overall, this assignment was much needed, everything that came out of it was very positive, and I am very grateful and thankful for being in this situation to give to others. |
Page 12: The Best Things About Me
There have been so many things I can’t even count that I have done over the years, but 3 things will always stay true to me: 1. My video game addiction 2.Always wanting to hang out with friends 3.My persistence for good grades To start, video games have been around me since I was little, and I will always hold it in a special place in my heart. Ever since getting that gameboy and playing Pokemon, I can not get my hands off of it. The adrenaline rush, the online socialization, the memories, and so much more have really shaped me into who I am now, and I don’t have one regret about it. Video games have taught me so many lessons over the years, spanning across some many life concepts. Since losing is inevitable in video games, you learn and gain a sense of how to handle that. I know that some people, even people older than me, still rage and break items when they lose, but I have really grown past that and have taken a different path for losing. Instead of breaking things, yelling, and overall having a temper tantrum like a 5 year old, I just log off when I get mad. There is no reason why I should keep playing it if it just makes me mad. Sometimes, more often than not, I use this extra time to get ahead on hw, study for a test, or fine tune some of my weak points. I use anger to my advantage, as in my opinion, it is the best fuel to get things done. There is so much more to video games than just a time waster, that I think, in some circumstances, is better than some courses high schools’ create. Art class may make you more creative, but will it help you with responding to toxicity from others or team work skills? The main point I want to get across is video games really impacted my life thus far and I won’t be giving it up ever. Next, hanging out with friends, in person or online, is one of my favorite things to do because it makes life so much more enjoyable. I have had my fair share of friends, online and in person, but to me, when I was talking to them, when I was playing with them, it was so much fun. All of the laughing, the jokes, the ups and downs, and yelling at each other, it was just indescribable. Time went by so fast when I was talking to them, and it still happens today. I hop on my pc, talk to them, and 6 hours just went by like it was nothing. The bike rides to Honda Hills, the biking to go eat out, are memories that won’t be forgotten, and I am really appreciative of them, even if I don’t talk to them anymore. Enjoying life is one of the things that I strive to achieve each and every day when I wake up, and without friends, life would be so much harder to deal with than someone by your side. Finally, my desire to be the top of the class and put as much effort into my schoolwork and leadership is one of the best things that define me. Ever since I was little, my parents always wanted me to get really good grades and no matter the cost, get the A in the class. Ever since high school started, I have put at least 3x the effort compared to elementary school for my work overall. Although it has drained my time to talk with friends, it will be well worth it in the end when I get my dream job, so I’m not too worried about it right now. Hours upon hours of studying, completing homework, and stress has been piling up on me, but I am glad I am working through it, as I always have, so that I can relax later in life. |
Page 13: What I Like Best About Being a Member of Leadership Even in a Pandemic
Leadership this year has been a wild ride, with the uncertainties of COVID-19 and the unknown in the year, but the best part about being a member of the leadership program is what you learn from it, even if we can’t be in person. COVID-19 has really destroyed our year, but that did not stop us from doing the best we can in this situation. Starting the year strong, Core Camp was a great introduction to leadership at the high school level, with many insights on different areas of leadership. CASL and Scott Backovich expanded on leadership distantly, with new and exciting ideas for the student body. Morty really stepped up this year for self care, as she knew, along with many others, that mental health right now was at its all time worst. She taught us how to love ourselves, manage our time, relax, and just enjoy life, and this was one of the best, if not the best, part of the year so far. With some time being allotted to in person interaction, all of Fall Fest really helped me learn and grow communication skills, group skills, time management, and a realization of the workload. What you put into the program and the mindset you have with it really determines what your year is going to look like. Coming in with a positive mindset and ready to work really did help me grow as much as I could this year because I was ready for the worst. Even if we didn’t have many events this year, I put 100% into everything I did, and I really did change. As I talked about it in the application, I had self image issues going into the year, but I worked hard to try to get rid of it, and now it is basically gone. Your mindset determines your successfulness, so just embrace anything Morty says with the right attitude and you will grow as much as I did this year. |
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Page 14: Homecoming Gallery of Picture and what was one of your favorite components to the adapted HOCO that we did?
My favorite components to the adapted HOCO were the dances from the classes with the homecoming candidates and decorating the front of the school. The whole preparation and teamwork throughout the week prior was so fun and it was an amazing experience that I can’t wait until next year. The memories and laughter during the making of it was super fun and I really bonded with the reps a lot in that time. In addition, the overall result of the dance was phenomenal and everyone loved it, including the people in the dance. Next, the decoration of the front of the school was one of my favorite moments because it served as a great bonding moment for all of us as we were sleep deprived and this was the reps’ first time doing something like this. The pictures we had of it made the background look great and even though the poster fell down it was fine in the end. Overall, Homecoming this year was outstanding with our conditions and time limit and I believe that everyone enjoyed it from leadership in and out, and this speaks to how our program works and creates. |
Page 15: What I love to do...
For me, school is one of the things that I really enjoy being at. Most people have a bad connotation with school, but I believe that it is because of past elementary experiences and the wrong mindset. School can be great with great teachers, good work ethic, and a positive attitude. Most people really don’t have that, but in my case, I really enjoy school. Especially being a freshman, you get to meet so many new people and it opens a lot of doors for social avenues. I have gained so many friends that I believe will be there for a long time in just a year, and I am excited for what is to come with school in the next 3 years. I also think that over the years I have really developed a bond with school and learning because of all of the things that come with it. I like learning new things and concepts, especially when they apply to the world after high school and college. For example, I am going to be taking a Khan Academy class for taxes, stocks, and other economic things you have to do as an adult, so I can be as prepared as I can when the new world hits me like a freight train. Obviously I don’t have to be doing this, but I think it is a great use of my time over the summer and a good use of time otherwise spent lingering on Netflix. In addition, leadership has a lot of components associated with it that apply to the real world. Job resumes, cover letters, interviews, time management, deadlines, and your self image are some of the many parts of leadership that I really enjoy and take in stride because when I fail in those classes, it is way better than if it was in the real world. If I messed up my resume for a mock interview, it wouldn’t be too huge of a deal, although I would be marked down. Compare this with a real world experience in which I could not get my dream job all because I didn’t have experience with resumes and messed up.
Page 16: Letter to Parents/Guardians
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you so much for what you have made me to be in only 15 short years. You have taught me to be a respectful, responsible, dedicated, dependable, trustworthy, and smart young man. Even with this current situation and my knee dislocation, you have been very kind and have supported me throughout this crazy journey. You have always supported me for any interest I have had and are the best parents I could ever ask for. You have sacrificed so much for me, especially your time. Mom, thank you for making delicious meals everyday that I clearly look forward to, and thank you Dad for teaching me to be a leader. This year has clearly been rough, but even so you have supported me so much and I really thank you for what you have done. I know sometimes I can be someone unlovable, but you will always be someone I can look up to and ask. Thank you guys for pushing me academically, to make me who I am. Having all A+ to A’s is very impressive and it is all to your parenting while I was very young and your constant pushing to me throughout the years. Overall, you guys I cannot thank enough for what you have done for me, all of the sacrifices you have made, and how hard you have pushed me to my limits. Thank you once again for being the best parents out there.
Lots of love,
Spencer Redula
Page 17: The Letter
Dear Freshman Representatives,
Although this year is rough, myself and the other reps have learned so much, and I want to spread as much wisdom as I can so you guys can be as successful as possible even through the thick and thin. If i had to summarize a word for success is deadlines. This sounds corny because most people in leadership say, but it really means something if you go farther than surface level. Sure, just as in any class, meet deadlines, but for planning events, completing procedures, and making videos, you have to set many deadlines to make sure people are doing their job, and on time. You might think, “Our group of freshman reps is great and we can trust each other.” False. At one point, someone is going to forget, someone is going to not do their job, and you need to either take it in stride or fix it before it happens so you won’t mess up in the first place. If an event is in 2 weeks, have everything set up, perfectly planned out, and have all of the materials or dance done 3-4 days before it happens. It is iconic in leadership for stuff to go wrong as you are doing it, and for it to fall horrendously. For example, posters for HOCO this year were a mess. We had the poster and the pvc pipes ready, but we all forgot to bring weights to weigh it down on the windy. As a result, it fell down multiple times and was embarrassing to all of us and we all were down. If we just moved the deadline back by 3 days, we would have realized it and we might have gotten 3rd for HOCO which is impressive for a freshman. Another piece of key advice would be time management, especially for you in APHG and other honors classes. Now, I must say, they aren’t too hard from my perspective, but that was because I time-managed very well. When finals come up or AP exams, I will tell you have NO FREE TIME. I literally went to school, came home and studied, went to track practice, did more hw, then went to sleep FOR 3 WEEKS. If I was smart and spent more of my time in the first semester studying for APHG, I wouldn’t have been so stressed. However, I did very well and I believe I got a 5, my stress levels would have been so good if I spent more time on APHG earlier in the year instead of playing video games.
Some things to be aware of freshman year would just be social and experiment with friends. You don’t always have to be in your little 8th grade clique, you can meet so many new people. I’m not saying that you should forget your friends from elementary school but reach out, because it will be worthwhile and I personally have met some amazing people this year.
On that note, if you guys need ANY help ask me for help, I will always help you. I’m not that scary and I love seeing people succeed :). Overall, I wish you all the best because freshman year is a blast but remember to time manage and create deadlines because that separates a great year from one that is filled with stress, laziness, and dissatisfaction in you and your performance.
Best wishes,
Spencer Redula.
Page 18: Do’s and Don’ts List (as best as you can with all things COVID)
Lists of Do’s and Don’ts Freshman Year:
DO’S:
- Set deadlines for everything. Although it may seem simple, setting deadlines is very important to success in leadership and classes alike. Setting deadlines brings a need to a task and makes sure you get things done and aren’t too stressed out
- Separating work between everyone/work people are better at. Separating work evenly or to people’s strengths is really important because you can be so much more efficient this way. For example, if someone is artsy they can take the drawing portion, while someone else who is better at paperwork does that instead of being stuck trying to draw.
- Don’t be afraid to speak up to peers or anyone in leadership if you feel there is a problem. If there is a problem in your group of reps or for anyone in the class, it is so much better to confront them professionally either through the rank and support system or through a group confrontation for a common cause. It is better to speak out then hold in your real feelings.
- Time-manage in and out of leadership. Time-management is one of the hardest things to develop, but once you get it down, it is so worthwhile. Being productive in and out of the classroom is really a key part to your enjoyment of high school, so make sure you try to manage your time wisely instead of laying around and watching Netflix.
- Find balance between work/leadership and social life. Finding balance between homework and your social life is very important for happiness in the school year because you can’t always be working but you can’t always be laying around. Finding that balance is key for success and enjoyment overall.
- Be ready 3-4 days before the event happens. Being ready 3-4 days before an event happens is key to success because it allows for no error to happen, and I don’t want people making those same mistakes. If you need to get a poster done by Friday, be done and finished by Tuesday or Wednesday. That way if you remember something you can fix it before it happens and never have a heart attack while setting it up.
- Have almost daily check ins stressful weeks to make sure people are doing their job. During stressful times/weeks, it is very important to have daily check-ins with your team to make sure everything is fine. This allows for no miscommunication/misunderstandings to happen, and serves as a little stress reliever for the group knowing that everything is going good.
- Always try to get ahead of things or get them done before the deadline. Getting ahead of things is very important to leadership because it allows for error in stressful situations. Take the weekly journals for example. During HOCO, you really don’t want to be worrying about them, so a good strategy for this is doing the coloring portions and some of the Thursday/Monday answers beforehand so you have to do less work that week.
DON’TS:
- Wait until the last minute to do anything. Waiting until the last minute is one of the worst things to do, especially in stressful times. This makes it worse for everyone and never works out, and it always ends in anger or frustration with yourself or others.
- Never think you are always right or never compromising or never talking things out. In leadership, there will always be times where you disagree with someone on how to do something. One of the worst things to do in this scenario is to always think you are right and be stubborn. You will never gain any respect from your peers and the end result will always have someone angry.
- Not double check everything a day or 2 before the event. Double checking things is great for planning events, but not doing it brings the error percentage way higher. Making sure you are fully prepared is great, but thinking you are 2 hours before the event starts with no sleep is surely going to end up with a bad result.
- Be down after a poor performance and sulk and do nothing. Even if you have a bad performance either for a dance or for poster making, or anything in general, sitting there and sulking is just awful and is so unproductive. Sure, you can be angry for 5 min, but holding it the entire day is just plainly annoying. Instead, you should write a list of what you did wrong and take it in stride so the next time you do something you won’t make those same mistakes.
Page 19:The Professional
Two aspects of leadership this year regarding professional development would be the mock interview and the cover letter/resume. To start, the mock interview itself was very helpful for professional development because it allowed us to not only have an insight on a potential job in the future but also a real experience for a hiring interview and everything that goes along with it. Based on how you did on the interview, it showed your preparedness, as well as your time management skills to create slots in your day to practice interviewing. This can relay into a leadership position at RHS because you have to be prepared for any events and always be on track. If Morty gives you a deadline, get it done in a timely manner, if you need to get a dance down by Friday, it better look perfect by Friday. The second aspect in professional development this year was creating a resume and cover letter. Although it may seem simple to people who haven’t done it, the formatting and word choice really matters if an interviewer is looking at it for 10-15 sec. You have to make an impression in that short span of time and creating it took me a while to do, even though it isn’t perfect and can be fixed. This relates back to leadership at RHS because it shows how much you care about the little details in events/assignments. You could clearly put minimal effort into the resume and just move on with your life or actually spend time on something that you could use later in life and you land you a spot in your dream job. Just as in that instance, you can put minimal effort into events in leadership, but the repercussions will be way worse, and you will notice that you have to put 100% of your effort into everything you do.
Page 20: Change
COVID was something that forever changed our lives, and my experience as a leader and a student will forever be impacted. For a year that looked so dull, so much has come out of it and I am really appreciative of all that we are able to do, even if it is modified. Myself and frankly the entire school believed that we were going to have zero events this year walking in and we left with Fall Fest and HOCO, which is certainly better than nothing. Leadership has allowed me to meet so many great people and I have established so many new relationships with them that otherwise, I wouldn’t have met. It’s crazy to think that this year has gone by so quickly, because I could remember like it was yesterday when the reps met over the summer at a coffeehouse to discuss t-shirts. If I’m being honest, we did nothing productive that day, but I am perfectly fine with that. The reps have become people I can rely on and friends who I can trust, and I seriously think without leadership I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Frustration was a factor in this year, but it came in way too many forms. To start, the first semester had me frustrated that we couldn’t come back in-person, and I was afraid I was going to miss out on one of the most important years of my life. Looking back, I wasn’t really in a good place at all during the online portion of the school year, and I really have evolved from there. I can remember how introverted I was and how egotistical I was with my friends. The only thing I had going for me was my brain, yet I used it poorly and wasted my days on video games and getting mad over menial things. Another frustration that I had this year was during Fall Fest, because I believe we worked at 40% the entire event compared to now. We didn’t know what we were doing, we had no coordination and trust, and time management was awful looking at the group in general. Honestly, I was fed up with myself not performing my best but also with the group in general. Homecoming, on the other hand, was amazing and we did awesome 80% of the event. One last overall frustration I have had over this year was the lack of recognition by my parents for what I have done. I feel that honestly I could solve cancer and they wouldn’t make a big deal about it. Whenever I get a 100% on multiple big tests all I get is a non-paying attention, “Good job Spencer,” then they just move on with their day. Frankly, I have amazing grades and whenever they get the progress report all they say is, “Keep it up.” For example, I try my absolute hardest to do well in chemistry because the teacher doesn’t actually teach the subject and yet we get the tests he copied from the other teacher. I am barely getting by with a 92.6% and that is good, since it has gone up consistently for the past 2 months. It’s not like I ever had a B in the class, yet my dad told me to, “Pick it up,” like I’m slacking off. Overall it’s just annoying but I guess I’ll deal with it.
Finally, a change for the future of the class would be no journals during the weeks of preparing and doing an event, like Homecoming. Sure, the journals have their purpose, but I think that there would be high efficiency and output quality if we didn’t have to worry about the journal that week. Of course, a counter argument would be that it only takes 20 minutes, but I think having it on your mind is unhealthy especially with people’s minds being all over the place during the events trying to make it the best it can be. This is not a huge change but overall I would think it would help newer students to the program, like freshman or rookies in general.
Page 21: The Ideal Leader
An ideal leader is not someone who can do everything, like Niki, but learn from everything and become better everyday. Especially for freshman and sophomores, I don’t expect them to be perfect, know how to do everything, but a true leader learns from their mistakes and failures. If you mess up a poster for HOCO, yes it sucks and you made a mistake, but will you bounce back at the next time and be perfect in that area? Or will you continue to make the same mistakes and not learn at all? Freshman year is all learning the inner workings of the class and adapting and becoming better is one of the best things you can do. There will always be stars in the program, there will always be someone better than you and someone with more power. Mindset is key for an ideal leader, and how they react is what they become. Going on to class activity, events, and homework, you should be doing them consistently on time and with 100% effort, because you need to care about school and events if you want to succeed in life and in high school. Being respectful, dependable, honest, have good teamwork skills, and other good qualities are obviously expected of the class, and opposites of those qualities are clearly not acceptable. Just be the best you can and you will do amazing things in the program.
Page 22:You
Choice.
For me, school is one of the things that I really enjoy being at. Most people have a bad connotation with school, but I believe that it is because of past elementary experiences and the wrong mindset. School can be great with great teachers, good work ethic, and a positive attitude. Most people really don’t have that, but in my case, I really enjoy school. Especially being a freshman, you get to meet so many new people and it opens a lot of doors for social avenues. I have gained so many friends that I believe will be there for a long time in just a year, and I am excited for what is to come with school in the next 3 years. I also think that over the years I have really developed a bond with school and learning because of all of the things that come with it. I like learning new things and concepts, especially when they apply to the world after high school and college. For example, I am going to be taking a Khan Academy class for taxes, stocks, and other economic things you have to do as an adult, so I can be as prepared as I can when the new world hits me like a freight train. Obviously I don’t have to be doing this, but I think it is a great use of my time over the summer and a good use of time otherwise spent lingering on Netflix. In addition, leadership has a lot of components associated with it that apply to the real world. Job resumes, cover letters, interviews, time management, deadlines, and your self image are some of the many parts of leadership that I really enjoy and take in stride because when I fail in those classes, it is way better than if it was in the real world. If I messed up my resume for a mock interview, it wouldn’t be too huge of a deal, although I would be marked down. Compare this with a real world experience in which I could not get my dream job all because I didn’t have experience with resumes and messed up.
Page 16: Letter to Parents/Guardians
Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you so much for what you have made me to be in only 15 short years. You have taught me to be a respectful, responsible, dedicated, dependable, trustworthy, and smart young man. Even with this current situation and my knee dislocation, you have been very kind and have supported me throughout this crazy journey. You have always supported me for any interest I have had and are the best parents I could ever ask for. You have sacrificed so much for me, especially your time. Mom, thank you for making delicious meals everyday that I clearly look forward to, and thank you Dad for teaching me to be a leader. This year has clearly been rough, but even so you have supported me so much and I really thank you for what you have done. I know sometimes I can be someone unlovable, but you will always be someone I can look up to and ask. Thank you guys for pushing me academically, to make me who I am. Having all A+ to A’s is very impressive and it is all to your parenting while I was very young and your constant pushing to me throughout the years. Overall, you guys I cannot thank enough for what you have done for me, all of the sacrifices you have made, and how hard you have pushed me to my limits. Thank you once again for being the best parents out there.
Lots of love,
Spencer Redula
Page 17: The Letter
Dear Freshman Representatives,
Although this year is rough, myself and the other reps have learned so much, and I want to spread as much wisdom as I can so you guys can be as successful as possible even through the thick and thin. If i had to summarize a word for success is deadlines. This sounds corny because most people in leadership say, but it really means something if you go farther than surface level. Sure, just as in any class, meet deadlines, but for planning events, completing procedures, and making videos, you have to set many deadlines to make sure people are doing their job, and on time. You might think, “Our group of freshman reps is great and we can trust each other.” False. At one point, someone is going to forget, someone is going to not do their job, and you need to either take it in stride or fix it before it happens so you won’t mess up in the first place. If an event is in 2 weeks, have everything set up, perfectly planned out, and have all of the materials or dance done 3-4 days before it happens. It is iconic in leadership for stuff to go wrong as you are doing it, and for it to fall horrendously. For example, posters for HOCO this year were a mess. We had the poster and the pvc pipes ready, but we all forgot to bring weights to weigh it down on the windy. As a result, it fell down multiple times and was embarrassing to all of us and we all were down. If we just moved the deadline back by 3 days, we would have realized it and we might have gotten 3rd for HOCO which is impressive for a freshman. Another piece of key advice would be time management, especially for you in APHG and other honors classes. Now, I must say, they aren’t too hard from my perspective, but that was because I time-managed very well. When finals come up or AP exams, I will tell you have NO FREE TIME. I literally went to school, came home and studied, went to track practice, did more hw, then went to sleep FOR 3 WEEKS. If I was smart and spent more of my time in the first semester studying for APHG, I wouldn’t have been so stressed. However, I did very well and I believe I got a 5, my stress levels would have been so good if I spent more time on APHG earlier in the year instead of playing video games.
Some things to be aware of freshman year would just be social and experiment with friends. You don’t always have to be in your little 8th grade clique, you can meet so many new people. I’m not saying that you should forget your friends from elementary school but reach out, because it will be worthwhile and I personally have met some amazing people this year.
On that note, if you guys need ANY help ask me for help, I will always help you. I’m not that scary and I love seeing people succeed :). Overall, I wish you all the best because freshman year is a blast but remember to time manage and create deadlines because that separates a great year from one that is filled with stress, laziness, and dissatisfaction in you and your performance.
Best wishes,
Spencer Redula.
Page 18: Do’s and Don’ts List (as best as you can with all things COVID)
Lists of Do’s and Don’ts Freshman Year:
DO’S:
- Set deadlines for everything. Although it may seem simple, setting deadlines is very important to success in leadership and classes alike. Setting deadlines brings a need to a task and makes sure you get things done and aren’t too stressed out
- Separating work between everyone/work people are better at. Separating work evenly or to people’s strengths is really important because you can be so much more efficient this way. For example, if someone is artsy they can take the drawing portion, while someone else who is better at paperwork does that instead of being stuck trying to draw.
- Don’t be afraid to speak up to peers or anyone in leadership if you feel there is a problem. If there is a problem in your group of reps or for anyone in the class, it is so much better to confront them professionally either through the rank and support system or through a group confrontation for a common cause. It is better to speak out then hold in your real feelings.
- Time-manage in and out of leadership. Time-management is one of the hardest things to develop, but once you get it down, it is so worthwhile. Being productive in and out of the classroom is really a key part to your enjoyment of high school, so make sure you try to manage your time wisely instead of laying around and watching Netflix.
- Find balance between work/leadership and social life. Finding balance between homework and your social life is very important for happiness in the school year because you can’t always be working but you can’t always be laying around. Finding that balance is key for success and enjoyment overall.
- Be ready 3-4 days before the event happens. Being ready 3-4 days before an event happens is key to success because it allows for no error to happen, and I don’t want people making those same mistakes. If you need to get a poster done by Friday, be done and finished by Tuesday or Wednesday. That way if you remember something you can fix it before it happens and never have a heart attack while setting it up.
- Have almost daily check ins stressful weeks to make sure people are doing their job. During stressful times/weeks, it is very important to have daily check-ins with your team to make sure everything is fine. This allows for no miscommunication/misunderstandings to happen, and serves as a little stress reliever for the group knowing that everything is going good.
- Always try to get ahead of things or get them done before the deadline. Getting ahead of things is very important to leadership because it allows for error in stressful situations. Take the weekly journals for example. During HOCO, you really don’t want to be worrying about them, so a good strategy for this is doing the coloring portions and some of the Thursday/Monday answers beforehand so you have to do less work that week.
DON’TS:
- Wait until the last minute to do anything. Waiting until the last minute is one of the worst things to do, especially in stressful times. This makes it worse for everyone and never works out, and it always ends in anger or frustration with yourself or others.
- Never think you are always right or never compromising or never talking things out. In leadership, there will always be times where you disagree with someone on how to do something. One of the worst things to do in this scenario is to always think you are right and be stubborn. You will never gain any respect from your peers and the end result will always have someone angry.
- Not double check everything a day or 2 before the event. Double checking things is great for planning events, but not doing it brings the error percentage way higher. Making sure you are fully prepared is great, but thinking you are 2 hours before the event starts with no sleep is surely going to end up with a bad result.
- Be down after a poor performance and sulk and do nothing. Even if you have a bad performance either for a dance or for poster making, or anything in general, sitting there and sulking is just awful and is so unproductive. Sure, you can be angry for 5 min, but holding it the entire day is just plainly annoying. Instead, you should write a list of what you did wrong and take it in stride so the next time you do something you won’t make those same mistakes.
Page 19:The Professional
Two aspects of leadership this year regarding professional development would be the mock interview and the cover letter/resume. To start, the mock interview itself was very helpful for professional development because it allowed us to not only have an insight on a potential job in the future but also a real experience for a hiring interview and everything that goes along with it. Based on how you did on the interview, it showed your preparedness, as well as your time management skills to create slots in your day to practice interviewing. This can relay into a leadership position at RHS because you have to be prepared for any events and always be on track. If Morty gives you a deadline, get it done in a timely manner, if you need to get a dance down by Friday, it better look perfect by Friday. The second aspect in professional development this year was creating a resume and cover letter. Although it may seem simple to people who haven’t done it, the formatting and word choice really matters if an interviewer is looking at it for 10-15 sec. You have to make an impression in that short span of time and creating it took me a while to do, even though it isn’t perfect and can be fixed. This relates back to leadership at RHS because it shows how much you care about the little details in events/assignments. You could clearly put minimal effort into the resume and just move on with your life or actually spend time on something that you could use later in life and you land you a spot in your dream job. Just as in that instance, you can put minimal effort into events in leadership, but the repercussions will be way worse, and you will notice that you have to put 100% of your effort into everything you do.
Page 20: Change
COVID was something that forever changed our lives, and my experience as a leader and a student will forever be impacted. For a year that looked so dull, so much has come out of it and I am really appreciative of all that we are able to do, even if it is modified. Myself and frankly the entire school believed that we were going to have zero events this year walking in and we left with Fall Fest and HOCO, which is certainly better than nothing. Leadership has allowed me to meet so many great people and I have established so many new relationships with them that otherwise, I wouldn’t have met. It’s crazy to think that this year has gone by so quickly, because I could remember like it was yesterday when the reps met over the summer at a coffeehouse to discuss t-shirts. If I’m being honest, we did nothing productive that day, but I am perfectly fine with that. The reps have become people I can rely on and friends who I can trust, and I seriously think without leadership I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Frustration was a factor in this year, but it came in way too many forms. To start, the first semester had me frustrated that we couldn’t come back in-person, and I was afraid I was going to miss out on one of the most important years of my life. Looking back, I wasn’t really in a good place at all during the online portion of the school year, and I really have evolved from there. I can remember how introverted I was and how egotistical I was with my friends. The only thing I had going for me was my brain, yet I used it poorly and wasted my days on video games and getting mad over menial things. Another frustration that I had this year was during Fall Fest, because I believe we worked at 40% the entire event compared to now. We didn’t know what we were doing, we had no coordination and trust, and time management was awful looking at the group in general. Honestly, I was fed up with myself not performing my best but also with the group in general. Homecoming, on the other hand, was amazing and we did awesome 80% of the event. One last overall frustration I have had over this year was the lack of recognition by my parents for what I have done. I feel that honestly I could solve cancer and they wouldn’t make a big deal about it. Whenever I get a 100% on multiple big tests all I get is a non-paying attention, “Good job Spencer,” then they just move on with their day. Frankly, I have amazing grades and whenever they get the progress report all they say is, “Keep it up.” For example, I try my absolute hardest to do well in chemistry because the teacher doesn’t actually teach the subject and yet we get the tests he copied from the other teacher. I am barely getting by with a 92.6% and that is good, since it has gone up consistently for the past 2 months. It’s not like I ever had a B in the class, yet my dad told me to, “Pick it up,” like I’m slacking off. Overall it’s just annoying but I guess I’ll deal with it.
Finally, a change for the future of the class would be no journals during the weeks of preparing and doing an event, like Homecoming. Sure, the journals have their purpose, but I think that there would be high efficiency and output quality if we didn’t have to worry about the journal that week. Of course, a counter argument would be that it only takes 20 minutes, but I think having it on your mind is unhealthy especially with people’s minds being all over the place during the events trying to make it the best it can be. This is not a huge change but overall I would think it would help newer students to the program, like freshman or rookies in general.
Page 21: The Ideal Leader
An ideal leader is not someone who can do everything, like Niki, but learn from everything and become better everyday. Especially for freshman and sophomores, I don’t expect them to be perfect, know how to do everything, but a true leader learns from their mistakes and failures. If you mess up a poster for HOCO, yes it sucks and you made a mistake, but will you bounce back at the next time and be perfect in that area? Or will you continue to make the same mistakes and not learn at all? Freshman year is all learning the inner workings of the class and adapting and becoming better is one of the best things you can do. There will always be stars in the program, there will always be someone better than you and someone with more power. Mindset is key for an ideal leader, and how they react is what they become. Going on to class activity, events, and homework, you should be doing them consistently on time and with 100% effort, because you need to care about school and events if you want to succeed in life and in high school. Being respectful, dependable, honest, have good teamwork skills, and other good qualities are obviously expected of the class, and opposites of those qualities are clearly not acceptable. Just be the best you can and you will do amazing things in the program.
Page 22:You
Choice.