I was a camp counselor last summer and this ted talk was actually sent a couple of days ago in my counselor group chat. This talk also relates to the “Impossible” reading that we read for homework. Specifically, this talk is about how we are leaders in our everyday lives. Similar to the Impossible reading, Drew talks about how we have glorified leadership to where we think that leadership is beyond us. He tells a story about a girl coming up to him on his graduation day and telling him how much he changed her life through a simple action that Drew does not even remember doing. I liked this talk because if we think abut our daily lives, we are truly all leaders to someone in some way.

As a mentioned, this talk was sent in my camp group chat. All of the counselors were rather close so after we all watched it, we started sharing stories about times where we were unknowingly leaders. This is my story that I told. Being an overnight camp counselor is incredibly exhausting because you are surrounded by and living with children 24/7. Therefore, the only time you really have to be by yourself or with friends is very late at night. As a result, by the end of the week, all of the counselors were completely exhausted and delirious. I remember one night, my camper was very upset because she was missing a friend of hers who had passed away. She was very shy and never wanted to talk much, so it was hard to help her. But she woke me up at 3 am and my delirious and exhausted self remembers almost no part of my interaction with her in that moment. However, she came up to me on the last day of camp and told me how no one ever just sat with her and talked to her about her feelings and how much that moment meant to her. Furthermore, a lot of the other counselors shared similar stories about how they changed campers’ lives just by doing simple things; a game of soccer, surprise birthday parties, or meaningful activities.

I really would not have considered myself a leader when I was a camp counselor; I saw my time as a counselor as just a job where I could have fun with the kids and my fellow co-counselors. But when I watched this talk, it really validated what I read in the “Impossible” reading. Anyone, and frankly everyone, is a leader in some way. We can all make a difference to someone through our time and our actions. I know it sounds cliche, but I never would have imagined that I could have such an impact on someone, especially in a moment where I had no idea how much I was helping and influencing someone. It is important to understand our glorification of leadership so that we can try and “bring it down.” Everyone needs to acknowledge that they can make such a difference and truly be a leader even if it may not seem like it (again, I know this sounds cliche but it is true). Then, we can inspire further action and understand how to be the best leaders we can from this.