Becoming a Leader: Student Profile

Becoming a student leader is a great way not only to help others, but also to enrich your own university experience, while gaining valuable skills.

Peer leadership consultant JD Walker says becoming a student leader has given him a sense of truly being part of the university community.

JD is studying economics at Oregon State University (OSU), in Oregon, US. He recalls that while he studied a lot during his first few years at the university, he felt somehow ‘disconnected’ from campus life. However, training as a young leader has transformed his experience.

“While registering for spring classes in 2011, I received an email about the Emerging Leaders class,” he says. “I felt like taking the course would be a great introduction to the OSU community.”

This class is one of the courses offered by OSU’s dedicated Centre for Leadership Development, which also hosts one-off workshops and seminars throughout the year, with the aim of helping students to develop leadership skills.

Supporting other young leaders

For JD, the Emerging Leaders course turned out to be the start of an ongoing interest in leadership and mentoring – and when he heard about an opening for a peer leadership consultant, he leapt at the opportunity.

He explains, “The role of a peer leadership consultant is simply to be a resource, a contact person, for groups and individuals who want to bolster their own leadership skills.

“We try to support leadership activities on campus in a variety of ways, such as offering educational materials, providing one-on-one consultations, and holding leadership workshops.

Most recently, we have also tried to raise awareness on campus about great examples of student leadership by submitting ‘Leadership Spotlight’ articles to the school newspaper.”

As well as helping others, JD says the role has really contributed to his own personal development, strengthening interpersonal skills that will definitely be an asset in his future career.

The importance of ‘soft skills’

“My goal is to have a job related to public administration, specifically city management,” JD says. “I feel working in local government is a great way to contribute back to society, and after living in a strong community like Corvallis [the city where OSU is based] these past few years, my motivation has only grown.”

His degree in economics should certainly be a good foundation for this kind of career, and his experience of training as a student leader and mentoring others should prove equally useful.

In particular, he highlights the ‘soft skills’ he has gained, pointing out that being a good leader is not just about having the authority to make decisions – but about good communication, cooperation, motivation and inclusion.

“The ability to understand constituents and work productively with other officials is essential in government; therefore, I expect my college experiences to be highly valuable.”

Similar young leadership schemes are offered at many universities around the world. Whether you want to boost your own soft skills, would like to feel more connected to your university community, or simply enjoy helping others, there are plenty of reasons to follow JD’s example and become a young leader.