Libby Brzozowski
Prof. Jerome Bump
Victorian Literature
28 November 2006
How I Can Become a Leader
“A human life is a dynamic process which moves through various phases, while returning often to earlier ones, in the search for a full comprehension of its “organizing principles.” Only through development can the nature of those principles be gradually revealed, for they cannot be completely expressed in any single form.”[1]
I began the journey to becoming a leader the day I was born in Frankfort, Germany on January 17, 1982. The moment I opened my eyes and my pupils adjusted to the light around me, the world would never be the same. The world was embracing a little baby it had never known before. Though I only saw strange geometric shapes and a multitude of colors, it would be extremely important for my development. It was my first sight of the world; through the pilgrimage in my life, I would have plenty of time “to achieve psychological growth, self-realization, psychic wholeness and harmony.”[2] For the time being, I just needed to learn how to use my eyes.
The first important milestone in my life was kindergarten. At the age of five, I was already familiar with two fundamental functions of a human: speaking and walking. My first word and my first step were the activities that my parents looked for during my transition from infancy to being a fully developed youngster. But it was not enough; my brain was still hungry for information and knowledge since there was still much I did not know. Basically I knew that I had a mother, father, and siblings. I also understood that oral communication was important to express what I needed from others. But to become independent from my parents, I needed to learn how to navigate through life on my own. I needed to learn another form of communication through reading and writing. I also needed to learn basic mathematical principles and concepts because they would help me succeed in work, school, and other situations. For the next twelve years of my life, I mastered reading, writing, and math. I also acquired essential life skills such as critical thinking, decision making, problem solving, and interpersonal communication skills through pursuing difficult challenges and applying practical solutions.
[3]
When I graduated
from Andress High School in El Paso, Texas, I was already prepared for the
world. Thanks to my thirteen years of free education, I was able to gain vital
adult knowledge and a foundation for essential life skills. The next step in
my life was to determine what I was going to do with my knowledge and skills
because these alone do not put food on the table or provide financial security.
Only when I applied these skills at work would I be rewarded with a paycheck. But
something inside me told me I wanted something more than just to live paycheck
to paycheck. Life could not only be about earning money to survive. So I
decided to go to college at The University of Texas at Austin to explore more
options and to see if pharmacy school was for me.
Little did I know that I knew nothing about myself. I also did not know that surviving in the world without the support of my parents is difficult. Moving away to college taught me the most important lesson I would ever learn: how to thrive and survive. For the past eighteen years of my life, I took for granted the support, security, and protection that I received from my parents. I did not know that the basic necessities in life such as food and shelter cost so much money and money required lots of hard work to earn. I realized I had to start from the bottom in order to begin the journey of self-independence. But first, I needed to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. College was an excellent place for me to do some career exploration because I could sample courses in hundreds of different fields of study. I changed from pre-pharmacy, to biochemistry, to psychology, and I eventually discovered that courses involved in “the scientific investigation of nature”[4] were not for me. Today I am a liberal arts student trying to major in English. My goal is to improve my written and oral communication skills since “80 percent of our future income potential will depend on our ability to communicate.”[5]
After my education at UT, all I will need to figure out is my future career. It may take many years before I find the right career for myself because career planning is a lifelong process. It includes choosing an occupation, getting a job, growing in the job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. All I have right now are ideas of what I would like to do for a living. Some of my career ideas have taken root in my passions that I have discovered throughout the course of my life. Most of my passions are related to my desire to improve humanity. When I was growing up in El Paso, domestic violence was a part of my life. But now that I am hundreds of miles away from home, I have not experienced any form of domestic violence. Not so long ago, I saw it as a part of life, but now I realize it was not healthy or normal. My life with my parents should have been like the life I have now. I did not deserve to be punished or controlled by physical abuse. Because of my experience with domestic violence, I want to help other people who have been exposed to this unwarranted abuse.
[6]
I
believe being an advocate for victims of domestic violence would be one of my greatest
acts of leadership. As I look back at the various phases in my life, I see
“the connectedness of things and events”[7]
and realize that they were all leading me to this moment in my life. My experiences
with domestic violence during my childhood and adolescent years have given me understanding
and wisdom as an adult. Now I understand that certain problems in society need
to be addressed, and I believe it is my responsibility to address them. I
believe the greatest advocates come from people with firsthand experience of
specific social issues. People who have not had firsthand experience, or who are
unfamiliar with a social issue, should listen to the ones who are familiar and
follow them. People who are leaders know or see something others do not, so
they share their knowledge with others. For example, Martin Luther King experienced
the worst part of the evils of discrimination and now he is one of the greatest
leaders in history for his vision of freedom, opportunity, and justice for all.
As a leader, I look up to Martin Luther King. He was very brave to address the issue of discrimination. Being a leader would take a lot of courage for me to step out of my shell and voice my concern about domestic violence within families. But thinking about Martin Luther King gives me encouragement. He was dealing with a much more serious and dangerous social issue. He even knew that his life was at stake for speaking out. If it was not for his sacrifice, who knows what type of country America would be today. America could be known as the country of hate and violence. People would be judging negatively every single person who is just a little different than themselves.
Currently, the United States is ranked first among industrialized nations in violent death rates. If I do not want domestic violence to continue or to get worse, I should at least talk about my concerns with someone. A good first step for me would be to look for other people who feel the same way I do about violence within homes. I can volunteer for a group like Texas Council on Family Violence who work to help people trapped in a life of violence. Just helping one person would be a blessing because every life is important; I would have been so thankful if someone helped me with my family.
To help a person
who is physically abused, I believe in getting at least a little involved with
that person’s life. As an ex-victim, I know that the only way to stop abuse is
to separate the victim and the abuser. There is absolutely no way to counsel a
victim and the abuser to make peace with each other. Even before a person
begins to talk to me about his problem with domestic violence, I already know
what I have to do. I have to break the news that this person has to be
separated from his abuser if he does not want to be a victim any more. And if
he refuses to be separated from his abuser, I would warn him that situations
can become worse and someone can get seriously hurt. I would also encourage
that both the victim and abuser seek psychological help. I would recommend
anger management for the abuser and counseling for the victim. Also in many
cases of domestic violence, the abuser would need to be put behind bars. Jail can
be an appropriate punishment for violent people to teach them that their
behavior is not 
acceptable in our society.
[8]
When I am not helping individuals, I would focus on domestic violence
awareness projects and I would dedicate time to figuring out how to prevent
domestic violence. For the domestic violence awareness projects, I would arrange
a meeting with all the volunteers at the Texas Council on Family Violence.
During the meeting, we would brainstorm ideas on informing society about
domestic violence. It does not matter what we come up with for the project, as
long as it is a creative and effective at grabbing the attention of the people
in the public. We would use publicity and noise to turn people’s heads and
bring them to our side. I would consider our project a success if we could get
all passersby to hear our shouts of “end domestic violence.” This message
would at least help people realize that violence within homes is a major problem.
But getting people to join us in order to educate themselves on domestic
violence would make me even happier. I would be pleased if they learned how to
identify a victim of domestic violence. They should also know that if they are
victims of domestic violence, there are always people that they can turn to for
help.
One way we can publicize our organization is by doing something like AIDS Walk. Instead of publicizing and fundraising for AIDS organizations and research clinics, we would be fundraising to help build centers for victims of domestic violence. Society is so concerned about finding cures to different diseases like AIDS and breast cancer that they are forgetting about the other causes of deaths in our country. We need to be able to protect people, especially children who live in violent homes and adults who are involved in dangerous relationships. In many cases of domestic violence, victims do not leave their abusers because they would be leaving their homes as well. This is why it is so important that we raise money to build shelters for victims who have no where else to go after leaving their abusers. This is my vision and I will not have peace until I know that every family in America is safe from the arms of violence.
Total word count: 1,921
Quote word count: 86
Word count: 1,921 – 86 = 1,835
New word count: 352
Words deleted from P2A: 1,542 – (1,835 – 352) = 59