It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been with SOS since January of this year, it seems like much longer. When I first applied for the opportunity to be SOS Leadership’s PR intern I honestly did not know what to expect. The only internship experience I had was with a start-up company that gave me a huge load of research work to do. While I was thankful for that experience, I wish I would have been given more responsibility, more guidance, especially being someone who wasn’t sure about the field of communication at the time. Be that as it may, the start-up experience taught me how to be a self-starter and discipline myself. It also taught me that I was fully done with the medical field. (If you read my very first blog on leadership, I used to be a nursing major)

I could have allowed one bad internship experience to shape my whole life, but I pushed forward with my communication degree because it was something I was genuinely interested in. It was something that I actually enjoyed learning about and could use my natural talents in. At the end of my first semester at St. Edward’s I got a mass e-mail about an internship with SOS Leadership, and on a whim I applied for the position, not thinking anything of it. The decision to work with SOS Leadership has changed my life and changed my way of thinking for the better. I no longer kicked myself for not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I no longer felt guilty about not deciding what I wanted to do career wise, earlier. It all fell into place, and now more than ever I can’t be more sure of the field I am going into. This is what I had been waiting for.

I guess I chose to write a leadership update because I’m about to enter my last year at St. Edward’s University, and it’s a bitter sweet feeling. So much has happened in a two year time span; getting engaged, getting accepted into St. Edward’s, the internship with SOS, getting married, and last but not least, finally graduating in May of 2014! The personal growth that I’ve had has been overwhelmingly wonderful, and it’s all because I accepted an offer at an internship. Leadership is such an important part of life, especially for self-development. I no longer feel like I have to please everyone, I know what I do is important, I know I do a lot, and I have the love and support of an amazing husband, friends, and family, that is all I could ask for.

When you hear the term leadership, it is often associated with leading others, but what most overlook is that leadership starts with you, and leading yourself to be the best you can be, in any aspect of life. I finally have that self-acceptance that I was searching for and striving to obtain for such a long time, and I can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring.

Start you own leadership journey by attending SOS’s newest Leadership Training workshop, Answering the Call to Leadership. Register here for this insightful workshop, and get the chance to meet other Austin local’s answering the call to leadership in their lives. Lunch, parking, coffee, snacks, and a free copy of Retreat to Success will be provided as well as an amazing location in the beautiful Frost Tower. You will also get a free copy of the lesson so you can continue to work on your leadership style, even after the workshop has ended. We hope to see you there!