Am I Socially Intelligent?

This week Tanner and Brooke led a great discussion on peer education programs on campus. One part of the discussion involved listing programs at Iowa State. We did this in January, and it was interesting to see how much the class had learned since then. We did this last year as well, but this semester it really got me thinking. The Hixson Opportunity Awards program is not the only program on campus that utilizes peer mentors and peer educators. This is a good thing because not everyone who comes to ISU receives this scholarship. Other programs like this mean that students have a chance to receive help during college that could improve their college experience. In addition, this means that the students have a chance to help others by joining these mentoring programs as well.

Chelsee also gave a fantastic presentation regarding social intelligence. Personally, I believe that leadership is a situational thing. Anyone can be a leader in the proper circumstances. One is not necessarily born a leader in my opinion. Still, reading this research caused me to think a little more about leadership being an inherent trait. In the reading, there were many traits of a leader. One of the traits that I feel I have developed well is teamwork. I had a great chance to work on this trait last semester when I worked with the other peer mentors as well as my co-leader. In addition, I displayed this trait very well when I went to South Dakota over spring break. I could always improve on this trait, but I feel that I have developed it well. Another trait that I have developed well is developing others. It is my goal to see others succeed. This is one reason why I want to be a counselor. I utilized this trait last fall when I pushed for the students to do well in their other classes, and when I pushed for the students to actually attend the Hixson class. I wanted my students to succeed, so I made it so that was a possibility for them.

Still, there are a few traits that I need to improve upon. One trait that I need to improve is my empathy. This is also a trait that is necessary for counselors. I always make an attempt to try to understand what others are thinking and what life is like for them. However, there are some instances when I find this to be really hard. For example, I maintained a certain level of empathy when hearing about life on the reservation, but I will never fully understand what that life is like so it’s hard to be fully empathetic. Still, I should always maintain some level of empathy, so that I can do my best to understand the needs of others. Ultimately, knowing what I need to improve upon will allow me to become a better peer mentor and a better leader.