Running head: REFLECTIVE LEADERSHIP 1

Reflective Leadership

Fernando Arce

Loyola University Chicago

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During my undergraduate career, I was involved in various organizations where I was

challenged every day to think about my own leadership ability. From being on the executive

board of my fraternity to being part of Colleges Against Cancer as the Co-Director of Publicity.

While I cherished the lessons, I learned when I was a student at Roosevelt University, I did not

do much thinking of my leadership experiences like I did when I took Leadership in Higher

Education with Dr. Darren Pierre.

This course was the second class I took with him and like the previous course, I was

constantly reminded to not only reflect on my own experiences but situate myself in the

literature. Throughout the semester, we analyzed the literature and learned about leadership

models and theories to help inform our practice. Throughout the semester, we participated in

simulations of what it would be like if we oversaw leadership programs at a university and how

we could utilize the models and theories we learned about to inform our program. This course

made me realize that even though I had all these rich leadership experiences in my undergraduate

career, I needed to redefine what I knew and adapt them using a student affairs lens. What really

helped me understand the material more was being on the HESA board at the same time as I was

learning about these leadership models.

The artifact I used to showcase reflective leadership was my leadership philosophy paper

where I discuss where I first encountered leadership, things in my life that have contributed to

my leadership development, and the leadership models and theories that resonate with me during

my HESA Presidency. I found that as each week passed, and we learned more theories and

models, I was able to put aspects into practice at the following HESA meeting. Being able to

reflect to the beginning of my Presidency to now, I have grown as a person and leader thanks to
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the lessons I learned in this course and practicing what I mentioned in my essay; which is growth

through collaboration.