Some UIUC students wrote reflections on their experiences and lessons learned from this past Fall 2020 semester.
Teresa McClafferty:
As we have all heard many times before, this semester has been like no other. Although it has been filled with stress and apprehension, it has also helped to strengthen a variety of fundamental characteristics of successful leaders, such as adaptability, teamwork, and resiliency. A lot of unique and unexpected challenges have arisen this year, however, these have made way for new opportunities for people to lead in a novel manner and solve problems that did not previously exist. Being able to adapt to changing situations and able to recover from setbacks is key to achieving success inside and outside of the classroom.
Many people, myself included, feel that adjustment to online classes has been a complicated one full of obstacles. Aside from all that has been going on in the world, the lack of a consistent routine of attending in-person classes, office hours, and RSO meetings has negatively affected the motivation and stress levels of the vast majority of students. However, this unprecedented year helped create a sense of community and unity that has been missing for quite some time. On a personal level, my friends and I have leaned on each other for support countless times throughout these past few months. I feel this shared experience has fostered deeper connections and a sense of understanding of one another. In addition, the learning experience this semester has truly felt like a collective effort. On numerous occasions, I have seen classmates help each other out by taking their free time to explain difficult concepts and even create study guides for upcoming exams. On a global scale, despite the heightened feelings of fear and uncertainty, the world has seen countless heartwarming moments. My hope is that everyone will continue to treat each other with an increased amount of empathy and compassion.
As the end of the semester quickly approaches, it is important to reflect on the progress that all of us have made in each aspect of our lives. Although the year has not gone as originally anticipated, we can all move forward with the new growth, knowledge, and strength that we have gained from these unprecedented times.
Raul Alfaro:
The Fall 2020 semester brought a cocktail of emotions and experiences, unlike any other semester. The joy of having a sense of community in a mixed online and in-person campus experience after a long period of isolation was refreshing and energizing but realizing that it is still not quite the same experience as before became a stark realization as well. I learned that being around others and sharing experiences and interactions (using a mask) feeds my energy and is a big part of my leadership style. The spontaneity of a face to face interaction is sometimes hard to achieve in a digital setting through a phone or laptop screen. Learning to navigate this semester while trying to develop interpersonal skills and effective habits was a challenge. At the same time, new opportunities for independent growth arose that could be accessed online easier and quicker. I met people who I probably would have never encountered in my normal routine through several organized novel webinars and group virtual meetings. Channeling much of my energy completely to independent growth some weeks and other weeks switching to interdependent growth was a unique experience this semester.
Many of our social circles and opportunities to meet new people have reduced greatly. This does not prevent opportunities to grow as a leader to occur. Shifting towards working on private victories to be a better and more effective leader can be accomplished and is something I focused on this semester. As Stephen Covey says in his bestseller book “The 7 habits of highly effective people”, these private victories refer to 1. Be Proactive 2. Begin with the end in mind 3. Put first things first. Becoming a more effective leader through the practice of these 3 effective habits was something that I put into practice during this semester. These private victories can be accomplished without the need for interactions with others and can prepare us to be better leaders for the future where we can go back to developing our interpersonal skills and habits more regularly.
Ethan Heidrich:
Being on campus this semester has been a surreal experience. For me, it’s consisted of taking a lot of COVID tests, going to sparsely attend in-person classes with a mask, walks across a desolate campus, and spending a lot of time in front of a computer by myself. It’s certainly not what I anticipated for my first semester of graduate school. Working through this pandemic, however, has definitely allowed me to strengthen myself as a leader by focusing on both myself as well as the relationships that I build with other people.
There are a couple of different approaches to leadership that we’ve seen during the pandemic. One such approach uses the pandemic itself as the subject, with the focus on developing and implementing effective mitigation strategies as well as focusing on a long-term solution to the pandemic. Many of our esteemed Illinois faculty and students have been leaders in this regard. Another approach that applies much more to me and should be applicable to everyone is accepting that we are in a pandemic and adapting our regular activities to be safer. Leadership examples here can include developing creative ways to lead traditionally in-person programs or even something as simple as checking in on loved ones.
I’ve seen my leadership skills grow the most with regards to adapting to the pandemic environment. This is present in both actual leadership positions that I hold as well as my everyday leadership skills. For example, as a teaching assistant, I still have to provide high-quality assistance to students in the course despite being limited to virtual classes and office hours. This has allowed me to improve my ability to explain and answer questions in a clearer manner without the use of hands-on learning. Additionally, in everyday life, I have dealt with changes to my daily schedule, such as the lack of in-person activities and classes as well as the addition of COVID testing. From this, I have been able to improve my ability to manage myself and better adapt to a much more independent daily routine. All of these increased skills have improved my self-understanding and my creativity to adapt to a situation. I anticipate this will be greatly beneficial in a post-pandemic society.
With regards to the impact that COVID-19 will have on leadership and teamwork in the future, I think some of the changes that we have already seen are likely to stay. Notably, increased reliance on technology has been used to adapt to the decrease in in-person activities, and I think this has shown leaders that it’s now even easier to connect with people than it was before. Technology usage, I anticipate, will continue to grow among leaders and teams for communication and implementation of ideas. I think leaders are also looking at adaptation strategies that have been used and are taking note so that they can be more prepared if something similar to this pandemic were ever to happen again. Regardless of the fact that we all want this pandemic to be over as soon as possible, it’s becoming increasingly likely that life in a post-pandemic world may never go back to what we were used to experiencing before the pandemic, so it’s probably in our best interests to take what we have learned during the pandemic and apply that knowledge to the future.
