Leadership and Financial Awareness

This week Brady and Josh facilitated class discussion about leadership. The final question they asked us to think about is whether leaders are born or made. I believe that leaders are made. To me, everyone has the tools to be a leader; it is a matter of whether or not they step up. Some people don't become leaders until they find an issue that inspires them enough to become a leader. Also, how someone is raised has a large impact on whether they will become a leader or not. If someone is taught the values of a leader while growing up then they will have a better chance at retaining those values as an adult. I believe there are too many factors that make a leader to say that leaders are born rather than made.

During the retreat on Sunday we had a long discussion about financial awareness. The one thing I learned is that I need to keep a closer eye on my finances, especially now as I prepare for internships and graduation next year. I also learned that I should be paying more attention to changes in tuition and federal aid not only for myself but for my sister who will be going to college in the fall. I found a lot of the articles that the others brought very interesting, especially the ones that talked about alternate ways to pay for college. The more options you have, the easier your path will be. I'm definitely going to look into some of the things Allie mentioned like the webpage where you can see your loans and the government plan where you can pay off your loans based on income for a set number of years. I had never heard of that payment option before and it sounds like something I would be very interested in. Overall, I will be paying a lot more attention to my finances in the future.