Gandhi's impact on the world is undoubtedly one of the most astounding movements in human history. Through peaceful protest, Gandhi was able to break India free from the bonds of the English, giving India their independence. This grant feat, though awe-inspiring, is only outdone by the wisdom and inspiration that he passed through his actions and speeches. Many of his quotes are not stated in various locations today in a variety of situations. For me, there are two quotes that I heard as a child that I took to heart and live by now. The first is "you must be the change you want to see in world." This quote says a lot about a person and the importance of their personality. This quote shows that no matter what kind of change you want, a change in yourself, whether it be personality or mannerism, it is essential in order for your cause to be taken to light. Your personality in the end is what will make or break your cause. The second quote that I take to heart I heard more recently. This quote is "Nobody can hurt me without my permission." This quote showed that I am in control of me and that no one can change how I feel or effect my life if I do not allow it. In the end, the outcomes of my life is dependent on my actions, not on those of other people. This became important because at one point in my life, my emotion was very dependent on the people who were in my life. I realized that I should be the only person who should have that power.

However, there are still areas in which I need improvement. The area in which most work is needed is the seeing the good in people. As Gandhi said, "I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others." At many points, it is hard to over look the bad and just look at the good. Being a leader and being a human, however, requires that I not only look at the negatives of the person and also see the person for the good that they have done and the good that they can do. If one only looks at the negatives, you are only looking at half the person, not the whole.

All of these points put forth in this blog entry is very essential in developing as leader. This is because these points help to make people a more receptive leader and allows for you to be a role model and lead by example instead of following someone else's dream. Gandhi was one of the greatest activists and leaders in the world and learning from his wisdom will develop your leadership ability and allow for you to make an impact on someones life, just as he did.

The Optimist Creed I feel is a set of examples of how to be optimist rather than an actual creed. This is because everyone has their own way of being optimistic, and have not heard the creed. For example, I consider myself to be an optimistic person but I touch slightly on these promises. The one that I absolutely agree with is "To forget the mistakes of the pass and press on to the greater achievements of the future." I find this important because it shows progress. To wallow in the past is a waste of the present. The past is past, there is nothing that can be done to change this. However, the present is still open and your actions to influence it can cause changes regardless of your mistakes in the past. However, I do not believe that growth is necessary for my optimism. As I stated before, I believe that optimism changes based on different people. One person's idea of optimist could simply be too much for another person. I believe that my level of optimism is the perfect amount for me.

I find the quote "if you look for what you can learn from problems and failures, you'll be looking at the sunny side. More important, you'll on your way to making your optimism come true" to be very true. This is because your mistakes are not just mistakes. A mistake or a fault is just one stepping stone to what is right. A mistake doesn't mean you did it wrong, but you are closer to what you meant to be. A mistake is just faulty thinking. Everyone makes mistakes and an error just means that you are human. Learning from your mistakes makes you all the wiser and allows for you to live life to its fullest, with all the faults and problems.

As a leader, I will be a RA over the course of next year. Over the summer, I am hoping to obtain an internship at a hospital and develop more leadership skills. My source of role model would be my parents. They are always there to support me and always want the best for me. There is no one better on this Earth than them. To motivate others, I use encouragement and motivational arguments. Through rational argument and persuasion, I am able to motivate people to do more and more.

The article "18 Truths to Start Telling Yourself" is nothing new but in many cases, it is hard to swallow. This is because it is easier for us to see the negatives rather than the positives. Our focus on ourselves is not of importance, rather it is secondary to many. Our lives are lived worrying about everyone else but ourselves and because of this, we are put in an awkward predicament where our personal needs are disregarded. Tell yourself these truths allows for us to embrace that we are but humans and that we ourselves are amazing people. I feel like these statements reflect many of the lessons that I have learn through the various mistakes that I have made or advice that I was given. I feel my strengths are be that "broken promises destroy relationships" and "everything, good or bad, is a life lesson". These resonate most with my personality and the person I am. Through experience with various types of relationships, I have found that lies are the most effective way to end any relationship where as honesty builds trust. Secondly, the good and the bad both make up life. To think of the bad as just that and nothing more is missing half of life's experience. Seeing everything as a lesson allows for every moment to be appreciated. The area in which I need the most improvement is that "a few real friends are all I need". I frequently deal with this issue because I do not want people to have a negative connotation of me. With that being said, that are cases when I try too hard to impress everyone. As they stated, it is much healthier to have a few close friends that accept me for me.

Similarly, the article "15 Ways to live, and Not Merely Exist" had many inputs that reflected lessons learned from prior instances. These tips are essential in life because they allow for you to live life to the fullest and not just cruise along. When i reflect, these no longer come to mind. This is because I have learn to incorporate many of these into my every day route. As events happen, many of these tips are embedded into me. However, the tip to "choose to listen to your inner voice" I partially disagree with. This is because in some cases, living your life to the fullest means taking risks, risks that you otherwise would not have attempted. To be able to live life to the fullest, you must attempt things regardless of the odds. You will be more haunted by what you didn't attempt than by your shortcomings.

The video project is coming along very well. I find the idea very clever and I am excited to see our work come to life. This is going to be a huge success for us. My opinion on STARS LEAD is that it has been a wonder experience. It has taught me a lot about being a social justice advocate and way that I can help out the community. It has far surpassed my expectation. STARS LEAD has also pushed me to take several leadership roles on campus to help and unity our communities. I would like to see more social justice work actually being done however, rather than talking about it.