My thoughts and expectations for this school year are strange due to coronavirus. One of my thoughts about the school year is whether students will be able to be in the classroom before the school year ends. Although coronavirus is not leaving the country in the best state right now I really would like to be able to be back in the classroom even if it is for only a couple of months. So, in a way this thought is also an expectation. An expectation I have for this school year is to execute a bunch of Scott Backovich's plans in Leadership. Scott Backovich is a youth motivational speaker that spoke to RHS leadership on September 4th, 2020. He helped us generate a lot of ideas to roll out this school year. An idea that we came up with is building a virtual school campus of RHS in Minecraft and possibly giving the esports club a role in this activity. Another idea that we came up with is having some esports tournaments between RHS and other schools or just between the students at RHS. And one more idea that we came up with is to team up with some local small businesses and collaborate. For example, we could team up with the Ripon coffee house and make a custom cupcake with the Ripon High colors. I hope to have good grades throughout the school year and to gain a lot of knowledge through my classes. Although I am disappointed that I will not be able to interact with my teachers and friends physically, I try to see this as more of an opportunity than as a disadvantage or downfall. Although we cannot have rallies or assemblies that leaves room for other activities and plans that we generated with Mr. Backovich. Another thought I have is whether we can still interact and connect with each other in ASB leadership as well as we could in person. Right now I feel like in leadership we are interacting with each other pretty well for the fact that we don't get a period together everyday in person. But I can't help but think how will homecoming work and how will we interact for that? What I ultimately want to get out of this program is spiritual growth and to grow as a leader.
Favorite Quotes
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."-Dolly Parton This quote means a lot to me because it shows that work pays off and that you have to work to have success. It shows that happiness can not just be given to you for free. It also motivates people to chase their dreams and that if someone sets their mind to something and works their whole life for it they will most likely achieve that dream despite the rain they had to go through. An example of rain that they might have happened to go through could be hate from other people but if you survive through that rain you will find the rainbow.
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory."-Dr. Seuss This quote means a lot to me because it means that we need to appreciate life more. It also means that we need to focus more on the positive than the negative. In society today we often focus way too much on the negative and need to focus and appreciate more of the positive. I think this relates to our battle with coronavirus right now because we can now have time to look back on how great things were before coronavirus hit. Before coronavirus hit we we're most likely not appreciating how good things were as much as we we're dwelling on how bad things we're and the negative of the world. And to be honest, my life is still great even with the struggle with coronavirus, things could be much worse for me and I appreciate the fact that I have not lost any of the members in my household.
"Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you are actually living."-Rachel Marie Martin This quote really spoke to me because I do believe I dwell too much on what I could have been then on what I already am. I do sometimes picture myself in a different life and what I could be doing when I really should focus more on my life and what I am doing. I do still focus on my life but I sometimes dream about another life when I shouldn't be. The quote also increases self-confidence and pride. It is saying that "You are good enough, you are amazing, you shouldn't be anyone else." This can help people that need more confidence in themselves and need more self-satisfaction.
Quote Part II
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Harold R. McAlindon This quote represents me as a leader and the effort that I placed in the leadership program this year because this year was all about adaptability and finding new ways to be leaders. This quote means to me that we must step up when no one else will, create new ideas when times become tough, and adapt to new situations. I believe this is important because we must believe in all of these aspects in life. This can inspire leaders when times are tough to persevere and can inspire future leaders.
Goals
My first goal for leadership is to be more appreciative and aware of how great life is by the end of high school. This goal overall is a lot about being spiritually grown. It is October 8th, 2020, currently, and through the past few months of leadership, I have learned so much spiritually and have come to appreciate the gift of life more. I intend to keep on studying Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and overall keep growing spiritually throughout this school year. In the future when I am coming to my last high school days I intend to have a strong spirit and mindset.
My second goal for leadership is to become very professional and make a significant impact on my school by the end of high school. I intend to be prepared to tackle college and after that future jobs after my high school years and I believe that leadership will greatly help me with that. I also want to make a significant impact on Ripon High School before I graduate by being a role model, creative, and a leader in RHS leadership. I also feel like I want to give something to my school that will last long after I leave and will have a great effect on the students.
My first short term goal is to be in great physical shape and health by the end of my freshman year. And by great physical shape, I mean better than I am already. This is a big goal for me because my physical shape and health mean a lot to me. I aspire to be in the best position for sports and a big part of that is being in good physical shape. Right now my lower-body muscles are in great shape because I'm really good at running, however, my upper body muscles are good but they could be better. So that is probably the number one area of improvement.
Magazine Cover
Magazine Article
At the beginning of the school year Devin Fitzpatrick, a freshman representative at RHS, was concerned about the school year because of the state of the country and coronavirus. "I wasn't exactly sure how the year would play out and wanted to get back into the classroom but didn't expect it to happen soon." However, as he is entering his third month he is less concerned and is keeping his head up as he continues the school year. In the past 2 months, Devin has executed activities with RHS leadership, kept steady grades, and kept a good mindset on health and life. An example of activities that Devin has helped conduct are social media spotlights on Instagram, which is when two random individuals are spotlighted to spread inclusiveness. Another example is designing the freshman class T-Shirts and selling them to the Freshman class. And another example is helping coordinate fall fest with the other freshman representatives. Devin has kept steady grades in all of his classes by maintaining a 4.0 GPA. How he has been doing is by studying for all of his exams and overall not slacking off on homework. Devin says, "A good mindset is everything. Mindset pushes us to do things that we thought were possible and I have experienced myself how powerful mindset is." Devin believes having a good mindset is having a good life. He believes that a good physical mindset will keep you healthy throughout life and having a good mindset to succeed will lead to a successful life. Devin has also decided to join the debate club and will still be participating in sports when he can go back to school in person. So, therefore, Devin isn't trying to let coronavirus get in the way of extracurricular activities and having a good time. Even though he has to be socially distanced Devin also tries to keep in contact with his friends and family across virtual platforms. Devin has felt that even through virtual platforms RHS leadership has helped spiritually grow tremendously even in the first 2 months. "I believe I have come to appreciate life way more than I ever have before. And for that, I am thankful to my supervisor, Jill Mortensen, and everybody else apart of RHS leadership." Overall, Devin Fitzpatrick is trying to have a successful and nice freshman year even with the battle of coronavirus.
Fall Fest gallery
Role Model
One of my biggest role models and inspirations to my life is a YouTuber named Duke Dennis. Duke Dennis posts YouTube videos where he reacts to videos, plays NBA 2k; a basketball video game, and plays IRL basketball 1v1s. It isn’t necessarily what he does that inspires me, although it entertains me, it’s how he got to the place he is at. He grew up in a low-income neighborhood and was surrounded by drugs. He had a big passion for sports and played basketball and football. Despite his surrounding, he stayed out of gangs and didn’t do drugs which is very inspirational to me. He and his friend decided in high school if they didn’t get any real good college football offers that they would go to the army to get out of the “hood.” Duke only played football for two years so he only got division two offers and therefore joined the army and was in the army for four years. After he left the army in 2017 and came home to his neighborhood in South Carolina he started posting YouTube videos. He posted videos of him playing NBA 2k and posted consistently to this day. I discovered his channel in 2019 when Duke Dennis had about 800,000 subscribers. Since then he has gotten 1.4 million subscribers and has inspired me to work hard for my goals and if I commit enough I will accomplish them.
The Inner Animal
The animal that describes my personality the best is a Chihuahua. A chihuahua is small in size but has a mighty personality. I believe that I still am not the biggest in size and haven’t been for a while but have a mighty personality. A chihuahua also barks a lot and has a loud impact despite its size. This can symbolize my love for debating and my friendly arguing. Chihuahuas also don’t shy away from things that are bigger than themselves and actually take them head-on. I also believe that I am not afraid of people that are “bigger” than me. Chihuahuas are also very nimble and quick physically. This is almost an exact representation of my biggest strength when it comes to athleticism. And finally, Chihuahuas are very intelligent and good at solving problems. The career that I am pursuing requires both of those things and I believe that I am becoming particularly strong in these fields.
Fall Semester Final
I choose to pick out a giving tree present for an underprivileged child for my fall semester final because I can afford to do it and I feel good donating. The child I had for my final was a twelve-year-old girl who wanted some shoes. How I went about this was I ordered some sneakers from dick sporting goods for curbside pickup. I then picked up the shoes and dropped them off at the Ripon Fire Station. The emotional impact of completing this final honestly made me sad and a little happy. Although I was doing a good deed it made me sad that some children don’t have basic necessities to life it seems like. However, I am trying to not necessarily look at the negative and more look at the positive in how I am doing a good deed for someone. This assignment was very valuable to me because it did a good deed to someone in need and spread awareness about how blessed I am.
The Best Things About me
This is a picture of me when I was 7 years old at a 49ers football game. I was pretty young so I didn’t really know how lucky I was to get to be on the football field. My mom had been apart of the announcer’s group, so we had some exclusive access. I’ve been a 49ers fan my whole life with my family because my mom cheerleaded for them. I believe this represents my love for watching football and loyalty. Through all of the tough seasons, I stayed loyal to my team and I would like to say I am a pretty loyal person in life. Loyalty is pretty valuable to me and I often look for it when making friends. Even if the person isn’t funny or has strange opinions at least I’ll know that they’ll stand by my side through everything.
This is a picture of me and my family after decorating a Christmas tree. This photo represents the importance of family to me. For my whole life, my family has emphasized the importance of family and how that it is the most important thing. And they have emphasized it pretty well because I definitely believe it. I love my family and I love the way I was brought up. I would never give away my family for anything and I will never stop loving them.
What this picture represents is working as a team. It represents teamwork and collaboration. Everyone has a place in this picture. Teamwork is an essential part of my life because I often work in teams and it’s key to be able to collaborate and communicate well. And it also represents role-playing. Everyone knows their role. Even if it isn’t the starring role they all work in their spot to help make their project be a success.
This picture represents happiness and God. I love life and therefore I love God. I love that he created this wonderful world for us and that he gave me life. And of course, I had to be happy in life to feel this gratefulness. And of course, that’s what God intended for me. I believe in life you must stop yearning and find your happy place. You can still pursue your goals and dreams but you must come to the realization that things are great right now and need to stop living in the past and future.
What it means to be in Leadership
What it means to be in Leadership this year is to be a part of a team, a family, and become a leader. It means to develop as a person and in character. And it means to adapt to tough circumstances and persevere through tough times. I have developed a great sense of team through Leadership and have truly developed as a leader. I have learned great aspects of being a role model to my fellow students and being leaders to them as well. My character has developed so much in the past six months and I have nothing but appreciation to leadership and my parents for helping me take a big step towards adulthood. I’ve learned to not sweat the small stuff and figure out the bigger things in life. I have developed professional skills that will help prepare me in life for when I will take that professional step in life. And of course, a big part of this year was dealing with distanced learning. Through this year I learned how to unite myself with my peers even through isolation. Leadership also taught me how to launch activities from an online platform. I’ve developed a sort of adaptability also because of leadership. Leadership has shown us that we will make mistakes in life or we will be affected by other’s people’s mistakes but it’s all about how you adapt.
Homecoming Gallery
One of my favorite components to our adapted homecoming was the night rally that we held. This was my first official rally at RHS and it was a great experience and I can't wait to have more. The freshmen representatives and I created a dance to our homecoming theme "A day in the movies." It was a blast and I loved to perform the dance.
Goals Part II
My first goal that I made at the beginning of the school year to be more appreciative of life has come really in hand in my mental health this year. Telling myself how good my life is has truly helped me in the grand scheme of things and overall made me a happier person. I feel that I have pursued this goal very consistently and thoroughly and overall this year has been better because of it. I'm enjoying things in the moment and I don't always have to look in the past and wish it was then, or wish I had appreciated the moment more. Overall I believe I have taken this goal straight on and accomplished it.
I believe that I have tackled my goal of becoming professional front on. Throughout this year I have learned through mock interviews, speeches, and much more how to be a professional and have a professional attitude. In the career that I'm pursuing, having a professional attitude is very important and I am so glad to have learned the skill. Overall, I have become more ready to go out into the professional world through RHS leadership.
I think that I've greatly pursued and accomplished the goal of getting great physical shape. I currently am running varsity in track and I greatly attribute that to my physical shape. I have improved everything about my shape from my strength to my sprinting and it has greatly improved my confidence. I feel less hesitant to do things that require physicality and am very happy I am so. If I keep going down this path I can see in the future me being a top level athlete.
What I love to do...
Two of my biggest hobbies that I enjoy are watching sports and listening to music. These both are massive interests in my life. I will break down each of them thoroughly. Watching sports is a tradition to me. I treat my favorite teams like my family and truly have a passion for them. I primarily watch the NFL and the NBA and follow my favorite teams very closely. In the NFL my favorite team is the San Francisco 49ers and in the NBA my favorite team is the Golden State Warriors. I have been loyal to the 49ers my whole life because my Mom cheerleaded for them and I proudly say that it is in my blood. I have always been a Golden State Warriors fan but started watching them a lot in 2019 and have been following them since then. Listening to music is a hobby that goes outside of the action of it just like watching sports. I don’t just listen to music I follow music. In listening to music I follow my favorite artists on social media and their influence on me goes way past music. I primarily listen to Hip Hop/Rap as I am of African American descent and there is a lot of history behind some of the hip hop I listen to. A lot of hip hop speaks to me on the struggles of life and teaches me about things going on in the world. For this, I am thankful.
Letter to Parents/Guardians
Dear Mom and Dad, I just wanted to thank you both for everything you have done for me in my life. And by this, I mean putting my life in front of yours. Although we talk about this a lot and I feel that we are very open with each other, I just wanted to thank you guys once again for everything you do for me. Words can not describe how thankful I am to be your son but I’ll take my best shot at it. I was so blessed to have the best parents in the world that put me in the best environment to succeed. Thank you for always looking out for me and my future. I greatly appreciate all the work and care you guys have put into my character. Thank you for supporting me when I fail, pushing me when I’m grinding, and guiding me when I’m lost. I would not be anywhere near the person I am today without you guys and I’m extremely grateful for that. I am so grateful I have shoulders to lean on when I’m disappointed and a hand up when I fall down. I hope you both know that you two are the most important people in my life and I will always strive to make you proud. Love, Devin
The Letter to incoming Freshman
Hi incoming freshman, Just wanted to give some advice and information that will help you go into leadership. One of the most important things that I believe needs to be emphasized is asking for help and reaching out. Staying connected is a huge part of leadership and asking questions will get you way farther than being afraid to ask questions. Another piece of advice that I believe will help you is making sure you always have clarification. As a freshman last year I think it would’ve helped if I clarified things like guidelines for homecoming and what should be brought for class projects and whatnot. Another thing I wish I knew coming into leadership is to not get too down on yourself when you fail or miss a deadline. I think I had some miscommunication on how I was supposed to transport my core camp registration and I got really worried when I turned it in a little late. But everything ended up working out and Morty is more flexible to late work than she tries to make it seem. And probably my last piece of advice is to try to reach out and make as many friends as possible with the upperclassmen and your fellow freshmen. You are going to meet some great people in leadership and you should try to get to know as many people as possible because you never know who is going to be your lifelong friend after high school. I’m now going to list some things that I wish were improved when I was a freshman representative. First of all, as freshman representatives, you all need to work collectively as a group and make decisions as a group and not make too much of a hierarchy. I understand natural leaders will rise and that is natural but representatives should not feel unincluded because people aren’t working as a team. So my advice to you is to be the glue of the group and make sure everyone is on the same page and doing things as a team. And another thing that you should try to prevent this year is not dividing. This did not happen with me but there were points where I was afraid it would happen. Now obviously you are going to become closer with some people rather than others and that is perfectly fine but you can’t let that get in the way of leadership. You cannot take sides with your friend on everything and start conflict because overall, all of you are freshman representatives and none of you have more power than the other. None of you can put your foot down so division will just lead you nowhere but to Morty’s office... Okay, so now I’m going to tell you some things to be aware of. You need to be aware that leadership extends outside of the classroom. You must be a role model off and on campus and be aware of your actions. You cannot break school guidelines and not expect it not to affect leadership. You could risk your presence in the program if you break the rules and are not a role model and you should be aware of that. For example, you can not post profanity on social media or drink AT ALL. I think I have given most of my advice but I just want to say one more thing. Have fun in leadership. Have a good attitude about it and I promise you even if it’s scary at first you will have a great time overall.
Sincerely, Devin Fitzpatrick
Do's and Don'ts
Do
have all planning done for events such as homecoming done as soon as possible
Publicize things through your friends. For example, telling your friends to all go to an event so that there will be a bigger turnout
Get assignments done as soon as possible
Get to know as many people as possible
Be a role model for RHS
Don’t
Procrastinate projects
Wait until the last minute to do assignments
Disconnect yourself from leadership
Constantly be asking Morty to be flexible
Break school guidelines
The Professional
Two aspects of professionalism that RHS leadership was involved in this year were a mock interview and the leadership application process. In our mock interviews we all researched and pursued a possible job we could potentially want in the future. We went through a variety of procedures to prepare ourselves for a mock interview for our chosen job and this prepared us for the future when we would be in this situation. We had to make resumes and cover letters to prepare for the interview and it gave me a better understanding of my job(general automotive manager). We then joined a zoom meeting with our interviewer and dressed professionally and prepared ourselves the best possible. We had to have a professional attitude and it prepared us greatly for the future. Another aspect of professionalism that RHS leadership and I tackled this year was the leadership application. The leadership application wasn’t an assignment but a requirement to take leadership next year. It required a couple of steps to be completed. We had to get letters of recommendation from former consultants, write a response of why we’re qualified for our position, complete an interview, and make a speech to recite to the student body. The letters of recommendation reflected how well students and role models were outside of leadership and showed how we must act professionally a lot of the time. For our written responses we had to show professionalism in the way we wrote them and had to make a convincing argument to get the position. Also, we had to prepare and act professionally in an interview just like how we would in a real interview. And finally, we had to make a speech to convince the student body to vote for us in our position. All of these steps gradually helped me prepare to enter the professional world.
Change
This year was a very difficult year for leadership and we as a whole had to adapt a lot due to the pandemic. The pandemic prevented us from doing regular activities such as rallies and gatherings. But for me, this year was not a disappointment overall. I met many great people through leadership this year and possibly made some friends who will last throughout high school. Two of my fellow freshmen, in particular, I would’ve never met if it weren’t for leadership, and have gotten incredibly close friends out of them. These two are Kylee Brown and Spencer Redula. I am so glad I met these people and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. I also have been inspired by many of my veteran leaders in the class. One of these leaders is none other than Nikki Nguyen. Nikki has inspired me to pursue my dreams and to keep following my hopes as she did. I also believe that I have grown immensely mentally this past year. Leadership has completely changed the way I look at life and pursue life. Leadership has taught me to not sweat the small stuff and live in the present. We have pursued a book named “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” this year and have gone into the aspects of it. This book and our analysis of it has overall made me a happier person and a better leader. Also, leadership has taught me to adapt in times of crisis. This is pretty self-explanatory. In the time of the pandemic, we had to create new ways of uniting RHS and creating activities. I also had to find ways to still have social time with my friends and classmates while being self-isolated. This was a very tough time for me but I pushed through and life gets better every day. One issue that I had in the leadership program this year was some people not pulling their weight. Often some other officers and I would have to pull extra weight because an officer wasn’t pulling their weight. This would happen and nobody would report them because that would be looked at as “snitching.” Now, this did get better as we came back to in-person learning but still could come up in the future. A change that could benefit the class in the future would be a time to talk with your classmates like the online office hours in distance learning. On online I would often find myself staying after school during office hours to talk with my fellow officers and it was a great bonding experience for me as a freshman. Now we don’t have to do this at all, but if we wanted to we occasionally could have these types of meetings in leadership again. They shouldn’t be in office hours because teenagers are always on the move but maybe every month we could have time to just talk about life with everybody.
The Ideal Leader
An ideal leader to me is someone who is always representing their program or organization well. A leader is someone who represents whatever they are working for incredibly well. Now there are a couple of aspects to representing well. I believe first and foremost that an ideal leader must make sure to keep their team connected and push their team to put forth their best effort. A true leader should be a team player and always look out for the people they work with. A leader cannot be a leader without a good team and needs to recognize that. A good sense of team is crucial to being a good leader and representing in my opinion. I believe second that an ideal leader should always be a role model to teammates with less experience. The ideal leader should lead by example that way the new teammates know who to act like. The ideal leader has integrity and does the right thing when no one is watching. Being a role model is a great way to represent the type of leader you want to be. The ideal leader must also put in their best effort in everything they do. The ideal leader should put in their best effort in anything they pursue and not cheat themselves. An ideal leader will recognize that he/she is only cheating themselves. Also, ideal leaders are compassionate and are looking out for others. This is close to the teamwork aspect except it is for everyone that you serve or just anyone in general. Ideal leaders think about others and don’t look out for just themselves. All of the ideal leaders I know are compassionate and will give me a favor if I need it. That should be what someone should aim for who is aiming to be the ideal leader. And finally, ideal leaders will always make sure they’re being productive. Now being productive is different than doing work all the time. Being productive is when you make sure your time is hardly ever wasted. For example, you can make a decision to go to the movies instead of doing homework if you feel that you aren’t going to be productive with your homework. If you believe that going to the movies will improve your mental well-being and still give you enough time to finish your homework then you are being productive. But overall being productive means always making the most of everything. Always making sure you’re work gets done, and having good mental health are both parts of being productive. Overall the ideal leader must be able to represent their organization in many ways.