Leadership entails something different to every person. Leaders play unique roles depending on the environment, from being a dominant and assertive figure to being a figure of support and encouragement. We asked four people how leadership affects the dynamics in their settings, whether it be an athletic team, a club or dealing with special needs students.

Junior Goonja Shah, captain of Raas

“Raas is something that’s not part of the school’s curriculum, it’s something we elect to do, so a lot of  the times when school gets stressful, some of the girls start slacking off. The biggest job of
a captain is to be someone that they can look up to and be motivated by. I think there always needs to be someone to keep things in order  and keep people on track because even with captains, we tend to get off track during practice or waste time. You really need someone that’s authoritative but kind to keep things running smoothly.”

Senior Hannah Haensel, social manager of Ohana

“We do an activity with the students and we’ll guide them through it. While they’re working, the officers go around to the tables and ask questions to help them start conversations. We leave it up to the members to engage the special needs students, and most of them are so easy to talk to once they open up a bit. I think a lot of people at this school would love to approach the special needs kids and be friends with them, and it’s that bridge to say ‘Just talk to them like you would your friends.’”

Freshman Prateek Kaushik, volleyball player

“Captains keep up the moral and spirit of the team. The captain doesn’t have to be the best player on the team, but they need to know how to get the team hyped and ready for their next game. You need a captain because if you don’t and your team’s in a slump, there’s no one there to pick you up. But if a team d
oesn’t have a captain, they all need to step up and be leaders in their own right. If they work together, I’m sure they could get along without a captain.”

Badminton coach Evan Blomquist

“Leadership is vital for a team this big. If there’s no leadership, you’ve got 90 people running around with their heads cut off like chickens. No leadership means no one knows when challenges are, no one knows when to show up for practice, how are games going to get set up, who’s putting up rosters, or who’s going to play. So leadership, for the coaches, the captains and the indivudal players need to step up and be leaders for the team because everyone needs to help each other out.”