Dear Art and ProU,
I want to publicly thank you so much for the lessons you have taught me. Since being made the leaders of the Editorial and News Teams, I have learned how to take authority when no one else is.
Because of ProU, I was inspired to take charge on my college campus, helping to organize impromptu protests, clubs (check out my club's website for our latest social experiment), and various other activities. I've come to realize that authority figures are as much unaware of what is going on as those of whom they are in charge. As such, there is no reason that you can't take charge. If you have an idea, all you need to do is to gather a group of people, and bring it to fruition.
On my campus, there has been a fiasco involving a racially insensitive poster. From what I can gather from various witnesses, some kid had a poster with a picture from the 2000 NCAA Championships of a white coach and a black basketball player (crying) with a caption "Slavery Re-instated: Catch yourself a strong one". Of course, the school paper blew it way out of proportion, misquoting or taking quotes out of context.
Needless to say, this has become a debacle revolving around allegations and uninformed opinions. One kid who was totally unrelated was beaten up because he lived in the same building. Today, there was a town hall meeting which turned into an airing for uninformed opinions. Foreseeing that it would turn out that way, I wrote up a proposal for a public inquiry. Hopefully, I'll get the participation I'm looking for.
So thank you ProU and especially you, Art.
Love,
Mike
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Dear Mike,
Thank you for your heartfelt and public thank you letter. I'm sure the entire ProgressiveU community will join me in thanking you for all that you've done, and in congratulating you on your efforts and successes on your campus.
I hope your example can be one of thousands more success stories to come. I'm no expert on leadership, but from what I've seen joining a blogging community like ProgressiveU is an excellent way to awake the "inner leader" in all of us. When you blog you make a public statement for all to see. It takes courage to publicly state and defend your opinions, and courage is the first step in any sort of leadership role.
I suspect most people who are attracted to blogging are the thinkers, analysts, strategists, and writers, out there. This is a sharp contrast to many who gravitated toward leadership roles in the past. People are starting to realize that leadership isn't just about fast talking and shaking a lot of hands. People who are good at blogging will be the thought leaders and influencers of the next generation.
I hope many more ProUers will go on to the next level like you, volunteer to lead new projects, both here on ProgressiveU and on your own campus and local communities. If you are interested in volunteering with ProgressiveU, check out this page.
Thanks again Mike, and good luck with all of your future endeavors!
Sincerely,
Art