Substitutions for leadership with covid/Jr year

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snowieWI3

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So my kid, along with so many other kids who are rising Juniors & Seniors are starting this year in such a mixed up way. My daughter is now getting used to disappointment with thing after thing being cancelled due to the virus. Now, with her high school going online until further notice, more cancellations that affect her Junior year plans: she was nominated to be the president of her school's military service club, all her music programs (band, jazz band) where she would continue her section leading is on hold as are her roles in Nat'l Honor Society and Key club. Upon hearing the school's updates of how school is shaping up to be today and their statements of "we hope to be in person after winter break" her only comment was "great...now I'll never get into the CGA with nothing to list for Junior year" I don't even know how to guide her for service opportunities or leadership positions when everything is at a stand still...and you can't put down "was supposed to lead this...was supposed to be captain of that" What are other students planning as a way of salvaging something for next years applications?
 
Get a job. You will have time since you have less school commitments. All of the academy interviews asked a lot of questions about my DS’s job.
 
I posted a similar post on the USNA forum yesterday. I got only one response. I am afraid there are not a lot of good answers.

My DS is in Cross Country and HEAVILY involved in NJROTC competitive team activities. We had a trip to Navy Nationals cancelled, Orienteering Nationals cancelled, at least three summer leadership camps cancelled this summer, no team sports, on-line only for foreseeable future, etc, etc. DS has volunteered to lead fellow cadets on runs. Told NOT ALLOWED. I expect all community service activities will be canceled too. No team sports allowed. He’s looking for leadership opportunities but, by definition, leaders lead groups and groups are just not allowed anymore. All he can do is PT on his own, and keep looking for ways to lead and practice for the SAT. I even thought of dis-enrolling him from high school so we could wait to do junior and senior year after COVID 19 is finished, but I’m not sure that is even allowed. I have hired a private tutor for him because e-learning at the public high school leaves a lot to be desired. I think his junior year is going to be a total washout. Hopefully there will be a senior year. Some areas of the country may not be as badly affected, but here in the Sunshine State were are just in very tough spot. We are lucky to still be healthy and alive. Many are not so fortunate.
 
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Leadership is a role that is take not given. Just because her leadership roles in school activities won’t be happening doesn’t mean she cannot lead. Can she lead an initiative or project that will benefit the community. Is there something she can do to lead other students in school outside of the formal school activities? If she is a leader she should be able to identity something. Best of luck.
 
[QUOTE="sanman, post: 755960, member: ]Is there something she can do to lead other students in school outside of the formal school activities?
[/QUOTE]

That’s what DS is trying to do. We will see what happens. So far, the school has refused to sanction these informal private group activities. But who knows. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of virtual leadership going on. That’s the way it’s going to have to be because people are not allowed to get together physically.

He thought that we could get all the drill rifles from the school and have private outdoor drill practice. I think the NSI instructors will be reluctant to give us the drill rifles because it might lead to a group activity.

One of my thoughts is that if you can’t be in a group, work on yourself. I’m having my DS focus on his weakest school subject to make it his strongest. I’m also encouraging him to read more.
 
snowieWI3 said:
So my kid, along with so many other kids who are rising Juniors & Seniors are starting this year in such a mixed up way. My daughter is now getting used to disappointment with thing after thing being cancelled due to the virus. Now, with her high school going online until further notice, more cancellations that affect her Junior year plans: she was nominated to be the president of her school's military service club, all her music programs (band, jazz band) where she would continue her section leading is on hold as are her roles in Nat'l Honor Society and Key club. Upon hearing the school's updates of how school is shaping up to be today and their statements of "we hope to be in person after winter break" her only comment was "great...now I'll never get into the CGA with nothing to list for Junior year" I don't even know how to guide her for service opportunities or leadership positions when everything is at a stand still...and you can't put down "was supposed to lead this...was supposed to be captain of that" What are other students planning as a way of salvaging something for next years applications?
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I posted this in another forum a couple of weeks ago. Note that these don't specifically require going through the school to "get permission" but instead could be organized and publicized via word of mouth, church, community organization or plain old networking. Getting "followers" and helpers is the same - not through a formal school program but through word of mouth, social media, etc.

Seriously, there are MORE potential leadership opportunities DUE to COVID and unlike the more normal pre-COVID activities like School Clubs and School Sports, there are not a chain of folks in line waiting for them.
I don't have a list of ideas figured out ahead of time but here are a few off the top of my head:

1. Organize shopping pickups for people who really should not go out dues to other conditions. Further, these people often need other errands and small tasks done which don't take much time/effort but they can't find people to do them.

2. Virtual Learning Assistance - Many parents are less able than others to assist their elementary and above kids with their virtual schooling. Many kids are moving backwards in an academic sense and they need tutors or assistants to help them. This is a serious and widespread problem.

2a. Virtual Learning Assistance for Special Needs students - Even MORE of a pressing need. You could really help some lives here

3. Communications help for the non-digital natives - Many seniors were used to being with their families on a regular basis and are now unable to do so. Many in Nursing homes/care facilities have this issue but also many live out in communities across the country and I will bet that there are some pretty close to you. They might or might not have equipment such as computers, IPADs or even smartphones but even if they do, they might not be able to utilize features such as Facetime, Zoom, etc. That is where a motivated young person can make a positive impact.

Doing some of these things on an individual basis looks nice but getting more kids to help will both enable you to help more people AND will show leadership and initiative. I threw these ideas together pretty quickly - there are undoubtedly many more opportunities than this.
 
Here's another for kids in less rural/more builtup areas.
Do you have a park, playground or other area, even a cul-de-sac nearby that you can use?
Younger kids EVERYWHERE that will be stuck in their houses for remote learning could still use
outdoor recreation/movement. "SOMEONE" (hint hint) could send out notices door to door, in mailboxes
or whatever that they are starting a game day every ______ and then run kickball, tag or any number of games
and activities. Have an "Iron Kid" competition or other activity, the goal is that the stuck at home kids get out
and move plus get to see other kids. Never mind formal organization tracking of hours, this is at the heart of
community service AND Leadership and I can assure you that every nomination committee that I ever served on
would be favorably impressed at the initiative shown.
 
snowieWI3 said:
she was nominated to be the president of her school's military service club
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Leaders have a mission. And missions don’t typically dissipate just because of CV19 and remote restrictions. Will use SAs as an example: Their mission of producing officers hasn’t gone away. They can’t just say, “Well, we need to stay 6 feet apart, wear masks and do everything remotely. So we’re going to pass on this mission, Sir/Ma’am.” No, leaders find a way to adapt to conditions, overcome obstacles, and achieve the mission.

So if your daughter was chosen to lead the military service club, she needs to revisit the mission and why she took on this role. Pretty sure the mission is not to sit in a room together once a week and talk about things. That may be an activity but it’s not the mission. Once she defines the mission — or has it defined for her — her leadership instincts should kick in and ask: Given the things in our way, how do we as a team still achieve the mission? Great leaders will find a way to rally the team to a collaborative solution.

As others above have said, there are plenty of opportunities to lead — if not more. Remind your daughter: Leaders lead! Others follow, or worse, wring their hands. A boss once told me, “Rather than thinking of a hundred reasons why this won’t work, think of one reason why it will.”
 
NJROTC-CC said:
leaders lead groups and groups are just not allowed anymore.
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Leaders also lead organizations and mentor individuals. Within the organizations that the person is already involved:
  • Are there opportunities to improve the existing organization like fundraising, planning, etc.? (ex. My DS led a can drive (our state offers monetary refunds for bottles/cans) for his robotics team. Organized through email, each member collected & returned cans individually, turned funds in to team coach.)
  • Are there tasks that normally are difficult to get to that could be done now that COVID has cleared other time constraints? Trailer to be painted, training documentation to be updated, recruiting calls to be made, etc.? (Identifying needs for the future and getting them done is leadership. Even better if it's delegated when possible.)
  • Are there opportunities to encourage & lead others to make sure they are growing in skills necessary for the group/team? (Are other scouts still working toward next rank? Are sports team members still working to physically improve? Virtual watch-party of some skill-building video & discussion?)
 
My DD is part of a group that she formed to increase the number of women in JROTC at her school. Her freshman year there were two in her hour, maybe a dozen in the entire battalion (not many for their large program.) So at the uniform fitting day the next summer she and another student gathered all the JROTC girls together and got to know one another with games, ice cream and hints for making it through the year. There are 30 new girls expected in the incoming class, the over-all numbers are the largest in many years, and a lot of has to do with retaining the people who show up. This year she's got the list of students for the year, but there's no uniform day so they're going virtual, BYO ice cream. It has changed their program and it was completely student-driven from within.

Her older sister did something similar back in the day, taking the mock trial team from a dozen nerds to about 40 people. She wrote a literal guide for building and running the team: recruiting, breaking cases into assignable chunks of work, dress code and a hundred other things. Years later it's a model for running a club at the school, and the team is still way bigger than before she arrived. The old coach remains amazed.

There are always things you can do to show leadership. Don't look for parades to march in front of, look for work that needs doing. Long ago I told someone that if they can't be the face of the program they should be the hands that do the work. Make a difference and tell that story.
 
StPaulDad said:
Don't look for parades to march in front of, look for work that needs doing.
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^^^ THIS ^^^

Great leaders don’t say, “What should I do?” They say, “What needs to be done?” Then they work backwards to find a way to get it done.

Someone posted something like “Leaders lead groups and groups are just not allowed anymore.” Hmmm...

Groups don’t exist only in perfect conditions without social distancing and mask requirements. Groups are collections of people with a common bond or interest or mission. They don’t just dissolve because they’re not allowed to congregate. My parish had to stop doing live masses back in March. So what did it do? Virtual mass, live-streamed each Sunday so that our leader — the priest — could accomplish his mission. Find a way!
 
Good advice already. I was going to mention starting up something on her own. Leadership through school will be challenging if not there physically, but what about contacting the school and TELLING them you want to continue to meet for NHS for example? Setting that up, getting it going.

There are so many opportunities to make yourself shine. You have to be creative. Personally, I think that’s something that will make a candidate stand out, is their creativity. Ability to think outside the box and come up with an alternate solution. BC, let’s face it, that’s EXACTLY what is happening in every area, industry, college, sorts program and SA presently. Things are fluid daily, plebe summer at USNA is a prime example.

How did/do YOU figure stuff out?? True, the traditional stuff may be on hold for the moment, but maybe it’s time to not rely on the status quo and shake things up a bit.

Personally, I believe everything will be different, even slightly, once we come out of this. Wouldn’t it be neat to know that something YOU thought of, made something else BETTER going forward?

Maybe try and identify a problem, and find a solution. As a leader would. I’m with the above, that the opportunities are even more so now than before to shine. It’s almost like starting over.

Also...all those things the kids were ‘selected’ for? In general, they are almost an assumed for a candidate that receives an appointment. It’s what you DO with them that matter. And you can still make it known that you were selected for those. But that alone isnt what gets you an appointment.

Yes, there is so much loss. But doors and windows: one closes, which opens another. Look for the open ones and forge ahead!!
 
every year I interview about a dozen candidates for USNA, and they all have a long list of activities, leadership roles, sports, captains, etc. sometimes it's hard to figure out what is real leadership and what is just made up resume fluff.

in many ways, i think this year it will be easier to separate the real stars from the rest of the pack. in most schools, all the fluffy resume fillers aren't available, and there are going to be a lot of candidates who will say "well, i don't have much for accomplishments because all that stuff got shut down".

then there are going to be a few candidates who will have very impressive accomplishments, that show their creativity, initiative, and leadership abilities to get important stuff done under challenging conditions. they won't have excuses, they will have results and experiences to talk about.

those things will take many forms and will involve many different activities/missions, and i'm kind of looking forward to hearing what some of these candidates have been, or will be able to do.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
He’s looking for leadership opportunities but, by definition, leaders lead groups and groups are just not allowed anymore.
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That is a wildly inaccurate statement. In fact during this time when people are isolated leadership becomes even more important. Groups/Teams etc don’t cease to exist just because are not physically together.

If your son is a leader then he will find a way to lead. This shouldn’t be seen as an activity just to check off a box in an application.
 
sanman said:
That is a wildly inaccurate statement. In fact during this time when people are isolated leadership becomes even more important. Groups/Teams etc don’t cease to exist just because are not physically together.

If your son is a leader then he will find a way to lead. This shouldn’t be seen as an activity just to check off a box in an application.
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I find your comments rather insulting. OF COURSE, DS is not doing his school activities "just to check off a box in an application." He LOVES school and all his ECA's. However, finding a way through this is very difficult. He will find a way to lead, but leadership on-line from his 12 x 14 bedroom will be very different.

I guess Admiral Stockdale found a way to exhibit great leadership by tapping in code on the wall of his cell. But it still SUCKED. This pandemic is taking a lot of the fun out of high school and that is just very unfortunate for these youngsters.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
I find your comments rather insulting. OF COURSE, DS is not doing his school activities "just to check off a box in an application." He LOVES school and all his ECA's. However, finding a way through this is very difficult. He will find a way to lead, but leadership on-line from his 12 x 14 bedroom will be very different.

I guess Admiral Stockdale found a way to exhibit great leadership by tapping in code on the wall of his cell. But it still SUCKED. This pandemic is taking a lot of the fun out of high school and that is just very unfortunate for these youngsters.
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I encourage you to look at what YOU wrote and what I quoted.
 
Thank you everyone for these excellent responses! My kid read each and every one this morning and you have all lit an "alternative" fire under her ass. While I was at work, she contacted a local place of business she has always been fascinated about (aqua fisheries) and basically said I have the time, I would like to spend time at your business as an internship" and they said yes. :) She is also looking into giving free drum lessons to kids also stuck at home and has other things firing out her brain. I appreciate this board because of the other points of view that are needed - sometimes you get stuck in your own lane that you have trouble seeing the expansive road ahead. :)
 
snowieWI3 said:
Thank you everyone for these excellent responses! My kid read each and every one this morning and you have all lit an "alternative" fire under her ***. While I was at work, she contacted a local place of business she has always been fascinated about (aqua fisheries) and basically said I have the time, I would like to spend time at your business as an internship" and they said yes. :) She is also looking into giving free drum lessons to kids also stuck at home and has other things firing out her brain. I appreciate this board because of the other points of view that are needed - sometimes you get stuck in your own lane that you have trouble seeing the expansive road ahead. :)
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Happy to hear this. This pandemic will afford as many opportunities as it does challenges. Sometimes it just needs a slight mental shift to identify them. It sounds like your daughter is on the right track! I wish all the best for her endeavors to attend USCGA!
 
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