HDF 190: FLITE (FIRST-YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE)

URI MINOR IN LEADERSHIP STUDIES, CENTER FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

CORE REQUIREMENT FOR THE LEADERSHIP MINOR
SPRING 2015

LEARNING CONTRACT
Goal: To identify and utilize my Strengths in an organizational/interpersonal setting that
aligns with the mission, vision, values and sponsored programs and activities of URIs
Center for Student Leadership Development.

Activity: Create a video about sexual orientation outlining perspectives of college

students. These perspectives will hopefully be representative of a larger population of
people. We are trying to educate and change the heteronormative society we live in
through education of different sexual orientation, as well as acceptances.
Annotation:
This assignment taught me a lot about others, as well as myself. Elana Rivkin and
I had the opportunity of creating social change on the grounds of sexual orientation. We
feel that sexual orientation is an ordinary characteristic about someone and shouldnt
necessarily define who he or she is as a person and we woefully believe that society is
predominantly heteronormative. We feel that this is problematic for the people who arent
heterosexual. Moreover, the straight community underrepresents this movement. Being
heterosexual, we had the ability to stand up and make a change; its evidently authentic
and passionate for us since we dont really benefit from this project. Thus, I feel that
servant leadership is completely applicable to what weve been doing.
We interviewed seven people and gathered their perspectives on their own lives,
sexualities, and the heteronormative society we live in. These interviews taught me a lot

about the people we interviewed and I think that it was potentially representative of large
masses of people.
I think that this project strengthened myself as a leader, and as a person in general.
Being given the ability to interview people entailed a lot of trust. I had to make these
people like me enough for them to share some of their most personal and prized
information. This evidently entails my top strengths of WOO and Communication. I
didnt want to make these people feel pressured or nervous around me. I wanted them to
be their genuine selves, and I wanted to leave a positive mark on their lives. Making
people feel comfortable in their own skin is central in my life. I also had to interact and
communicate with them in a way that promoted positive change. I kept reiterating our
mission of the project to remind people why they were being interviewed. I tried to make
these students eager to share their stories. I hope that this project portrayed my
communication skills with people and my genuine care for them.
Clearly, I have an attraction to having people feel comfortable around me.
Consequently, I have a desire to make URI feel more close-knit and interactive for
everyone and myself included. My project is working heavily on this goal. Its easy to get
lost in the seas of people all trying to find their ways in the world. However, you can
always make a big campus feel small and thats exactly what Ive been trying to do.
Elana and I have always been passionate about social change and we both feel that its
completely attainable; we have all the right resources and are surrounded by wonderful
and open-minded human beings. A college campus is the ideal place for growth of ideas
and positive change.

The most eye-opening moment I had while working on this project occurred while
I was interviewing my friend David. David was the third person we interviewed and
every interview had gone great. Everyone was sharing their stories and being honest and
giving us excellent material. However, none of their personal stories portrayed any kind
of struggle. It wasnt until we asked David, Has it been a difficult process to get where
you are today? [Being comfortable with your sexuality] He said, Yes. So difficult. Its
been so hard in my own family. They tell me Im not the person who I am. The concept
of a family member not accepting someone for his or her own character perturbs me. This
was a total shock to me and I couldnt even imagine how that would feel. Nevertheless,
thats exactly what some people need to experience in order to make a change. Realizing
that theres an injustice or problem in the world is the first step to social change. You
have to be passionate enough to try and attack a problem. David taught me that the kinds
of things Im fighting for- equality and normality among non-heterosexual people- is
important and real.
My project on sexual orientation showed me that I could make a change in the
lives of other people. I also learned that it starts with education. If youre ignorant to
something, you probably wont be accepting of it. I will continue striving to work toward
social change; I will continue striving to help other people and the society we live in.

Instructor Signature: ____________________________________________

Student Signature: ______________________________________________