My Pilgrimage to Leadership
[1] [2] Catherine Crier, a state judge, news
anchor and writer, is a role model to me; her example helps me to set goals in
life and encourages advancement. I would like to 
emulate
her because she has made exceptional decisions to pursue her goals. Through the
learning experiences I have had while doing the first and second project, I
found that reading and writing played important roles in Catherine’s 
life as well as my pilgrimage
to become a leader. Catherine knew the Constitution very well and 
realized
the diversity in the world by reading and understanding her heroes’ words.
Making a connection to the conversation in Second Life, I also found that leaders from different fields have different perspectives
because of the varied readings they did. Catherine also became an author who demanded
changes in the world by showing her passion in her literary works; I believed that
the scripts I wrote in Second Life helped others to understand what a leader is
and helped me to have a better leadership vision. Driven by the
new Second Life motivation, instead of the regular academic motivation, I have
become more active in the role of discovering new things. I enjoyed using
Second Life in class because it was one kind of Discovery Learning to me.
Overall, I have learned about the roles of writing and reading in my role
model’s life and in my concept of leadership from the previous role-model
assignments. I have also made a progress on my pilgrimage to leadership which
was driven by my excelled Second Life motivation.
[3] Like everyone else, I have a
great role model, Catherine Crier. I want to emulate her because “[she] always
knew what [she] wanted to do.”[4]
From being the 
youngest elected state judge in Texas 
history to a charismatic anchor
on TV, becoming an Emmy-Award-Winning Journalist before her current status as
an acclaimed author, Catherine knew that “there was never really any question”[5]
about her career choice. Learning from my role model, I do not think that there
is any question for my choice of future career.
I have always known that I want to be a high school teacher and believe
that teaching the next generation is one of the ways to contribute to our
society. Following the lead of Catherine Crier, I reaffirm my goal in life.
In order to know my role model
better, I researched her background. In my research, I found that reading
played a crucial role in Catherine’s career and life. To become a qualified
state judge at the age of 29, she needed to understand the United States
Constitution very well. The Articles of the Constitution inspired her, and they
were also one of her motivations to devote herself to the field of law and
justice. Catherine could never forget the first part or the Preamble of the
Constitution, which states:
We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.[6]
[7]These words are sacred to Catherine; they have power. No one can
ever change them, because they are the foundation of the 
system of law and justice and also the
cornerstone of the American democratic system. After memorizing and fully understanding the Preamble of the
United States Constitution, Catherine came to believe that 
as
a state judge, she needed to “[have] a passion for issues, a desire to understand
the world, to bring justice to the world […].”[8]
She always felt that she had the responsibility of being concerned about her
country, because she was a state judge and one of the leaders in the field of
law. She needed to maintain the social order in the state of
[9] Catherine was not
only inspired by the powerful words from the Constitution, she was also
encouraged by words of her heroes. These words helped her to know the 
diversity in this country, just as
the words that other “leaders” wrote in Second Life conversation helped me to
realize the diversity in the world. From the time Catherine Crier was a little
girl, she already had the dream to be a lawyer and eventually become a great
state judge. Her heroes were great lawyers of her time, such as Atticus Finch.
Even though Atticus Finch is only a character in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, his words motivated
Catherine Crier. The quote that Catherine could never forget says:
If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll
get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside
of his skin and walk around in it.[10]
Every time Catherine presided over a case,
she always considered things from the plaintiff’s point of view and also the appellee’s
point of view. Only in 
that
way could she clearly understand the case and make the right judgement.
Emulating Catherine Crier, I also practiced to consider things [11]from different views during my
learning experience. It was true that different people have different
perspectives because of their diversified backgrounds and varied readings they
did. I experienced these diversities during the conversations in Second Life. Being
Catherine Crier in the game, I developed some good conversations with other
“leaders,” for example “Benjamin Franklin.” When we got into the topic about
the 
relationship
between 
leadership and diversity, “Catherine Crier,”
“Benjamin Franklin,” and “Mrs. Beverly
Kelly” had different opinions. In the picture, “Catherine Crier” and “Mrs.
Beverly [12]Kelly” expressed different ideas on
the relationship between leadership and diversity. Everyone in the group used
examples based on their past readings, including history, philosophy, and law,
to support their points of view. After reading Catherine’s books, I used more
examples from the field of law and justice to show that there was a close
relationship between leadership and diversity. Recognizing the diversity in society,
Catherine Crier became a well-known state judge and a good leader in the field
of law. In the end, we all agreed that “a leader must recognize diversity, and
adapt to it,” and I also learned that “a real leader must adapt to those he is
leading” and “be open to everything.” More imporantly, I came to understood that
readings played an important role not only in my role model’s life, but also in
my pilgrimage to leaderhsip. As a leader, I needed to realize the diversity in
the world because people’s different ideas not only came from their different
backgrounds but also vaired readings they did.
Learning to consider
things from different perspectives, Catherine also thought that “[her heroes were] the fellows who, in Texas terms, could
charm the socks off a rooster, or better yet, could change the course of human
destiny with the force of their words.”[13]
To “Change the human destiny” was one of Catherine’s goals when she took the
job as a state judge. Inspired by Catherine, I also wanted to bring changes to
the world. The way that I chose to make a difference is to become a teacher in
the future. Working towards that goal, I started to practice teaching during
high school. Since math was one of my strongest subjects, I tutored
varsity basketball players during my junior
year. After my tutelage, their average in advanced math class improved from C’s to B’s. I made a difference in
my pupils’ grades and was inspired by the words of Catherine, just as she was
inspired by her readings.
[14] Catherine Crier’s great
achievements were not only inspired by reading the Constitution and these
meaningful words from her heroes but also by writing her own journals and
books. Being such a great state judge, Catherine Crier made a 
decision
that “shocked both the legal profession and the journalism world.”[15]
She decided to become a television journalist and an author because
writing was something that she could not part with. Her books are on the New
York Times Bestsellers list and inform and motivate readers to demand changes
in society. Some authors write books that make no difference in the world;
Catherine is one who makes changes in the world by showing her passion in her
literary works.
In Catherine’s book,
“The Case Against Lawyers,” she writes that citizens of the 
bureaucrats 
and
why the elected representatives remain silent. After I read her books, it
became apparent that the laws that our great founders made have already been
used by lawyers and politicans as tools; in other words, they have partly lost
its original function. As a former state judge and now an acclaimed author and
journalist, Catherine has not given up her “[desire] to bring justice to the
world.”[19]
She is a leader who is concerned about legal issues in the society. In her
writing, she expresses her will to make changes in the legal system. After
reading Catherine’s writing, I came to believe that in our lifetime, the government
will make civics another central part of education, along with math, science
and liberal arts. “As a judge, [she] believes [her] responsibility was to run a
courtroom to protect the judicial process and the rights of the parties.”[20]
Even though Catherine is not a state judge anymore, she wants to continue to
inform people in her literary works that change is needed, and that is what a
leader will always do.
Catherine Crier used her
writing to motivate people to become leaders who demanded changes. Making a connection
to her literary works, I believed that my writing in Second Life also helped
others to understand what a leader is. Typing the scripts in the conversation, I 
realized that writing played an important
role in my conept of leadership; it helped me to have a more specific
leadership vision. More [21]importantly, I felt that I made a lot
of progresses on my pilgrimage to leadership, because trying to be a leader of
the conversation in the game prepared me for being a real leader in class
discussion. In the conversation, “Catherine Crier,” “Ralph Waldo Emerson,” “Yukiyoshi Takamura,” and “Leonardo
da 
Vinci” talked about what a leader is. After
all the leaders from different fields sat down, “Catherine Crier” first typed
out the question, “what is a leader?” In the picture,
“Catherine Crier” was sitting on the sofa to the right and asking other leaders
the question about leadership. In order to lead the conversation, “Catherine
Crier” gave her answer first, “In my opinion, [a] leader is someone who can
make changes in the word.” After I gave my answer in Catherine’s tone, other
leaders also shared their leadership vision. Everyone in this group stayed in
character, and gave answers in their role models’ points of view. It was really
an enjoyable experience for me, because I learned different leadership visions
from three other leaders in 
different
fields. For example, “Ralph Waldo Emerson” wrote that the “most important thing a leader does is introduce
new ideas to the people around them; to lead them in a new 
direction
than what they already know.” Being Catherine Crier in the conversation, I agreed with [22]him, because Catherine had the dream
to make changes in the world, which was to “lead [people] in a new direction
than what they already know.” Not only I learned new leadership visions in the
conversation by writing the scripts in Catherine’s tone, I also practiced
to be a leader who led discussions. When I tried to be a leader in the Second
Life conversation, I was willing to write out my answer in the first place,
because I was driven by my new motivation – it was not about grades but the
quality of my contribution in the conversation and how well I led the
discussion. This experience was new to me, and I liked the way that I was able
to focus my efforts on leadership development instead of grades by writing
scripts in my learning experiences.
[23] After researching the background of my
role model and experiencing reading and writing in Second Life, I 
learned
that reading and writing have played imporant roles in both Caterhine Crier’s
life and my life. In the picture, I was thinking the readings I did in the past
and writing scripts to contribute new ideas in the conservations.
Using Second Life has
also been an experience of Discovery Learning for me. As is said under the
benefits of Discovery Learning, “[it] can be more motivating, incorporating the
pleasures of […] controlling an environment.”[25]
While I was participating in the conversation, I was concentrating on
contributing new ideas to my 
group
and trying to 
[26] lead the discussion. I had the responsibility of playing an active role in
the process of learning, not just simply following the direction that was given
by the instructor.[27]
As I said, my motivation had been changed. If it was an assignment that the
instructor would grade, I would try to do as well as possible on it because my
academic motivation was working. However, I have developed more confidence in
making progress on my pilgrimage to leadership due to my inspired motivation that I found by
using Second Life.
Role models are
people who help us to set goals in life and encourage advancement. I chose
Catherine Crier as my role model and would like to emulate her because she has
made exceptional decisions to pursue her goals. After doing the first and
second project, I found that reading and writing played important roles in
Catherine’s life and my experience of becoming a leader. Catherine knew the
Constitution very well; reading
and understanding her heroes’ words helped her realize the diversity in the
world. Making connections to the conversation in Second life, I also found that
leaders from different fields
have different perspectives because of the varied readings they did. Catherine became an author who demanded changes in the
world by showing her passion in her literary works; I believed my writing in
Second Life also helped others to understand what a leader is. Driven by
the new Second Life motivation, I have become more active in the role of
discovering new things. I enjoyed using Second Life in class because it was one
kind of Discovery Learning to me. Overall, I have learned about the roles of
writing and reading in my role model’s life and in my concept of leadership
from the previous role-model assignments. I have also made a huge progress on
my pilgrimage to leadership which was driven by my excelled Second Life
motivation. (2642)