Moving to from primary high school is one of the biggest experiences of your life and six years ago, I made that journey.
Like most new ventures in life there’s some aspects of high school that you don’t at first understand, such as how lockers actually work or why all the other grades don’t like Grade 7’s very much. And finally, what’s with Prefects?
Like most new ventures in life there’s some aspects of high school that you don’t at first understand, such as how lockers actually work or why all the other grades don’t like Grade 7’s very much. And finally, what’s with Prefects?
Before Grade 7 I’d never really heard of the term Prefects until I went to school a few days before my first term would start. There was a group of 20 Grade 10 students sorting through all the books getting them ready for us Grade 7’s. These Grade 10’s as my mum informed me where Prefects and they were the appointed junior leaders of the school. I just thought they were suckers, fancy spending the last days of your holidays sorting through books!
As I progressed through high school I obviously started to learn more about who Prefects were and what they did. Towards the end of each year the hand made scrapbook like ‘Vote for Me’ posters would start to turn up around the school and assemblies would be held in which the candidates would pledge their case of why we should vote for them. The staff and students would all cast their vote on who should have a place on the Prefect Board for the next year, a decision that was announced at that years celebration service.
Now to be honest in my early years of high school I was bit confused as to what Prefects actually did. Sure they all said some very positive ideas in their speeches, and their responsibilities were outlined at the celebration assembly. But out on the playground, I didn’t really see much happening. A lot of what Prefects are asked to do is behind the scenes, but still I wasn’t seeing the fruit of the position. You see the problem is, when the elections for Prefect were held each year, only about three people who deserved to get in did. The rest might just have well entered themselves into a popularity contest, cause that’s the only reason they were. You know the people I’m talking about. They’re the “cool” kids with their collars up. So I found this quite annoying, cause the right people were hardly ever picked.
And sure the eight sports prefects didn’t have to be that bright, they just had to be sporty. But the others, I expected something from them. You see every year all the Prefect candidates would get up and say something like ‘It’s not about the blazer, I just want to help people, and make change.’ But guess what, it was about the blazer! Cause from then on, what really changed in the school? What changed in my life?
You see being a leader isn’t about being above other people, it’s about being below them. It’s about lifting people up and helping them reach their potential. It’s not about getting a fancy jacket and slacking off for the rest of the year, it’s about serving. Which means to put other people or the school before yourself. To seek change in them and not necessarily you. And some of the Prefects got this, they spent their time woking hard to create a better experience and they spent time talking to the nervous Grade 7’s. But unfortunately the majority didn’t.
So when it came to my time, when I was in Grade 10. I choose not to run for prefect and instead I went for the position of a Peer Support Leader. Peer Support Leaders were an initiative set up to help ease the new Grade 7’s into high school life. They would head off to Grade 7 camp with them and also hang out in class from time to time. And I really wanted to be a peer support leader. Not because of the badge or being able to nick off from school but because I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to help and I wanted to show the Grade 7’s how cool high school could be. It was a position in which I knew I could really try make a change in peoples lives. I’m not saying this to try and say that Peer Support Leaders are better than Prefects, cause trust me, there where a tonne of people that shouldn’t have been Peer Support Leaders that were. I’m saying this because leadership doesn’t rely on a specific position and it definitely doesn’t rely on a piece of old fashioned clothing.
You see being a Prefect doesn’t make you a greater leader, it’s what you do as Prefect that does.
And you don’t have to be a Prefect to make a difference and you don’t even have to be a Peer Support Leader. John C. Maxwell, a man who is considered to be one of the greatest authorities on leadership in the world says this, “Leadership is influence”. Whether you’re in a leadership position or just in the school yard, you have influence whether you like it or not.
The choice is, how are you going to use it?
So if you’re applying for a leadership position, maybe on the Prefect board or for Peer Support or even Government. Have a really good think about why it is you’re going for it. Do you really want to make a difference, or is it just about the blazer?
