Essay: Leadership, character, truth, service, community, scholarship, excellence (Liberty)

Leadership
Leadership can be commonly described as being in a state or position of being a leader. You are providing guidance and counsel to people who respect you and are in need of your opinion. Leadership can be displayed in many different ways. You do not have to be out spoken to be a leader. You can silently lead in the way you act and the words you choose to speak with around your friends and family. You can be a leader in how you treat the people who love and care about you. If you treat people with disrespect, then people will not turn to you for guidance. People under you look up to your actions, words and how you treat others. A leader displays these qualities in a positive light and they do their best to display Christ-like character and leadership.
The word leadership comes from its root word leader. Leader comes from the old English word lædere which is defined as one who leads and one first or prominent in a team or society (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). It is a guide or conductor of a group that people can draw their attention to. The Old Frisian word ledera was given to a leader in a governmental state or in upper level society (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
Abraham Lincoln was a historical figure that created a big difference within our country. He had to make many large decisions that would affect many people in a short period of time, but he stayed calm and collected and did not make rash decisions (Hubbard, 1998). He may have made some poor decisions, but looking at his presidency as a whole he led America to the light at the end of the tunnel during the civil war (Hubbard, 1998).
At Liberty we can act as leaders and display leadership within our classes, teams, and grades. We can lead in a positive direction that other people will want to follow. In the Upper School we have our class presidents and student body presidents but students can still be leaders within their friend groups and classes. On your teams you can lead and be an example of what the expectation in the sport looks like. As you grow older you are looked up to more in the school. As seniors we are looked as role models for the lower and middle school students. They look at us for what guidance on how to go through Liberty with a positive influence on life.
Character
Character is known as possessing mental and moral qualities that are distinctive of a certain individual. This is known as having qualities that make you unique as an individual in the human race.
The word character come from the mid 14th century word carecter meaning a symbol marked or branded on the body (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). In Old French the world caratere means a specific feature, symbol or character. We get the word character from these roots because they are meaning something that is unique to you. These features characterize you as a specific human being (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
Character can be described as a characteristic or quality that is completely unique to you. It is something that you can be identified by. In the Bible we can compare the way we live our lives and our character to the life of Jesus (ESV). He demonstrated perfect character and He is someone we should aspire to be. He never was jealous, boastful, or hateful towards any human being or animal. Our character should show that we are disciples of the Biblical Jesus (ESV). We should be unique in our qualities and the people around us should notice that there is something different about our personalities (ESV).
In Liberty, we can use character to demonstrate the words of Christ. If we have Christ-like character, we shed a light on the dark world. If we have character of the world, then we conform to the dark ways of people who live in secular ways. Character can be large and effective changing factor in relationships, friendships, and in your leadership. In Liberty, character is something that draws attention. It can either be in a good way or in a bad way. But, people are drawn to good character. It is something that parents look for in friends for their kids, it is something teachers look for to find representatives for their subjects and it is something that administrators look for in representatives for their school and community.
Truth
Truth can be defined as something being in accordance with fact or reality and known as being true. Truth can be found from something that is validated in society or from the Word of our Father above.
Truth comes from the Old English word triewõ meaning faith, fidelity, loyalty (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). It also has a meaning of a quality of being true. Being in truth or living out truthfulness takes faith. There is no way with the human heart and human mind that we can fully live in truth with no mistakes (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). People are born with a sinful nature and we cannot live in truth without help from our Heavenly power. He will help people through anything but trust goes hand in hand with truth. Truth can be difficult for humans because we will try multiple times on our own but we will fail each time because we do not have the will power or self-discipline to fully live in truth.
Billy Graham was an evangelist that spread the gospel around our great nation and around the world (Biography.com Editors, 2018). We led many people to Christ. We lived out the truth in that he fully embraced Gods calling for him and he when full force into it with no hesitation. He displayed truth on a large scale and he was a great example of how to lie out truth with no holding back. Truth is not just telling the truth when people are counting on you to give the correct answer (Biography.com Editors, 2018). Truth is living in a way that reflects the truth of the Word of God in a positive way. It is doing the right thing when no one is looking. This means you choose to do the right thing even when no one is depending on you do to the right thing, people should just want to do it out of the goodness of their heart. This is what Billy Graham displayed (Biography.com Editors, 2018).
This is an amazing example of how people should exemplify truth at Liberty Christian School. Students, teachers, and staff members should love and treat others with respect even when no one is watching. Student should feel the conviction and not cheat in school even when they feel that no one would see. Teachers should award the correct grades to students even if they feel that no one would notice if they changed a few to make them look better as a teacher. This is living in truth and striving to live in the truth that God has provided us.
Service
Service is the action of doing work or helping someone with an act of a helpful heart. Service is doing something out of your own heart and not out of personal gain or selfish ambition.
Service derives from workers in the 1890s doing ‘servicing’ which means to perform work on or work with (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). The word service was also meant for people who needed work done on their cars, in their houses, or at their job they would call for service (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
Martin Luther King Jr is a true servant leader (Perry, 2010). He risked his life every day to provide the best service to the people around him. He used his power for good and not to gain personal power or to boost us his ego. He created a legacy that makes him be remembered as a true servant leader. He did not make decisions to draw attention to himself, but instead he made important, lost lasting decisions that affect the country in a positive way (Perry, 2010). He put the people around him before himself and did everything with selfless intentions and made choices that affected many people forever. The choices he made truly made a difference in the community and for the people around. He was an inspiration to all people and people should strive to live in a way that made a difference and not just go through life hoping something will happen but making it happen so that people can truly make a change (Perry, 2010).
At Liberty people can demonstrate service in the little things. Such as picking up trash, taking others plates to the cafeteria, and offering help in any way possible. Service is offering help not so that someone will see, but just because you feel like you should out of the goodness of your heart. Students should not help others just so that the boy or girl they like will see them do it, but it should be done because they believe it is the right thing to do. Helping people is a big way to show love and affection towards someone because people can show that they care for someone and their needs and want to offer help in all ways that are needed.
Community
Community is defined as a group of people living together or living near one another and or having a similar characteristic in common. This could be a youth group, team, or neighborhood family.
The word community comes from the Latin word communitatem meaning fellowship, relations and or feelings (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). This could have been used to describe a division or society of people within a community. These would be people who had a common possession or enjoyed something of the same factor or style (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
Community is something that many people strive to have and are in need of but do not always know that they need it. Community provides a safe place for people to dwell and share deep thoughts and feeling without judgment or resentment. The disciples in the Bible had community with one another because they trusted each other (ESV). They loved each other through everything and created a bond that could not be broken by things of this world. They trusted each other because they were followers of the Biblical Jesus and he bonded them together and as a group they made many changes that last even to today (ESV). They changed lives and this was only because they had community with one another and they created community with the people they met and worked with (ESV).
In Liberty it is very important to be in community with one another because together we are stronger. As students, many take difficult classes and it is important to work together as a team to build a strong school and community. Students have clubs that bring in the community to help student serve others around them and give back. It is important to give back because people at liberty are very fortunate and as a community people need to spread the love and joy that God puts inside of us through the way that we give back. At Liberty people can find community in clubs, teams, and academic activities. There is a place for every student to thrive and students can find what they need in each area of life at Liberty.
Scholarship
Scholarship can be defined as academic study or achievement and learning at the highest level. Scholarship can be earned, given or rewarded.
Scholarship comes from the Medieval Latin world scholaris meaning of a school or of a college (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). Scholarship is said to have been attained when you achieve academic excellence. Many scholars in older times were known to be the highest ranked and wisent people in the whole community and they would have many different celebrations for scholars once they would receive certain awards (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
Albert Einstein is an amazing example of receiving scholarship (History.com Editors, 2009). He had groundbreaking studies that changes the way modern science is conducted (History.com Editors, 2009). He changed the thinking of many scientists and pushed boundaries that many people thought could not be overcome. Einstein did not grow up in an extremely wealthy family (History.com Editors, 2009). He was middle class in Germany but he worked his way up to be a respected scientist. This shows all people that if they really want something they have the opportunity to achieve it if they just work hard.
In Liberty, scholarship and academic excellence is something that is expected and wanted by both students and staff members. It is something that the school as a whole is known for. As students we are expected to uphold those standards break the perimeters that are set before people because children are always trying to be better than the person next to them.
Excellence
The word excellence can be defined as the quality of being outstanding or extremely good and have an outstanding quality.
Excellence was derived from the Old French term excellence meaning superiority, greatness and distinction (Etymology Dictionary, 2001). Also from the Latin tern excellentia meaning superiority and excellence. These terms can be defined as needing and wanting to rise above and to surpass others (Etymology Dictionary, 2001).
A good example of people who achieve excellence would be member of the National Honor Society (National Association of Secondary School Principals [NASSP], 2018). To be inducted into this community you have to be successful in academic, extracurricular activities, and volunteer projects. All of these activities come in when making the decision of being inducted (NASSP, 2018). This is why NHS has the best of the best when it comes to students (NASSP, 2018).
At Liberty, it is an honor to be inducted into NHS and it is an honor to uphold this s community for all of high school. To be in NHS you have to be responsible, successful, and honest when it come to school, sports, and volunteer opportunities. All of these things can help to achieve excellence in many different areas of life such as getting a job, preparing to buy a first home, and raising a family. All of these things will need to be considered when working on and completing these milestones in life. Each of these things serves a different purpose but they are all important to life and to the people who are the supporters.