It all started when, on a whim, I decided to run for prefect in 6th year at school.

I think originally I just wanted to see if I could do it, but then, as I started writing my statement to convince people why I wanted to do it, I guess I also convinced myself and suddenly found myself really really wanting it, so by the time it came to the speeches I was pretty darn determined.

Ok, it was only about 3 years ago now, but to this day my prefect speech remains one of my proudest moments. (As does getting 93% in my Intermediate 2 Maths exam and getting full marks in the statistics project and class test, which my teacher rewarded with Smarties… Even though I study finance, I am not naturally a ‘numbers person’).

I should probably provide a bit of background here, for those of you who don’t know me, but I think I’ll just show you my speech. Please remember though, that I was only 16 at the time! 🙂 So we will probably both be cringing a little bit at some parts.

Picture the scene: Yours truly, in her school uniform, sitting in a group of maybe 40 of her classmates and silently comparing the speech she is clutching to those of the people talking before her (sometimes favourably, because so and so basically said nothing interesting and is assuming we’ll just vote for him anyway, and other times in a “my goodness, what was I thinking” sort of way), when the rector decides, yes, let’s get Aileen to do hers now because I can see she is getting progressively more nervous and the poor thing will want to get it over with. And Aileen thinks “sh*t $h!t shi%, ok, I can do this” and does:

(if you are still picturing the scene, I am reading this off my notes because I am not the memorising speeches type really, and also I was still making changes to it just before the bell rang for the end of lunch. And yes, I was nervous – duh!)

“Most of you are probably wondering what I’m doing here. I mean, let’s face it, I’m practically famous for being ‘quiet’ (though I’m not sure my family would agree)

So why am I doing this then, talking in front of all you people?

Admittedly the speech part didn’t really appeal to me much. At all. But, I think you can discover a lot about yourself when you are out of your comfort zone. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that you should “do one thing everyday that scares you” and in some ways that’s what I feel being a prefect is all about – pushing yourself to see what you can achieve and doing your best for your team. I think if you give me the chance I may even surprise you with what I’m capable of.

Believe it or not I can be very determined and when I really put my mind to something I’ll persevere until I achieve it. I also stick to something if I start it and I’ll go to ALL the meetings, not just the interesting and important ones. I can come up with unique and different ways of solving a problem and I’m independent enough to get on with things by myself without having to be asked, but I also know the importance of being a team, so I wouldn’t just do what I think we should do without consulting everyone else.

I know that I may not come across as a particularly bossy person but I’m fully capable of leading when necessary, and I think that there’s a lot more to leadership than being able to order other people about. A good leader has to be able to listen to, and encourage, and most importantly just include the rest of the team, because that’s the only way people will want to remain in the team and contribute to it, if they know they’re appreciated. I can do that, and I can also help resolve conflict because (being ‘quiet’, you know) I’m a good listener and only make up my mind once I’ve heard both sides of the argument.

I know that, in team situations, I don’t always attempt to lead but I still pull my weight and you need people like that too – as the saying goes, if everyone tried to be a leader, there’d be no one left to get on with things!

I actually have plenty of experience of leadership and teamwork from things like helping lead Brownies, the Duke of Edinburgh Award (doing it that is, not leading) and – even though I know it’s not quite the same thing – I was a prefect at primary school and we had to look after the younger pupils – whenever it rained, so a lot! – and organise our own rotas with who did what.

Like I said, I’m not always a very loud person, but that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of putting my ideas across and I honestly won’t just sit in the corner and say nothing. I’m not saying I’m ‘prefect’ in every way but I hope you’ll consider me and I promise I’ll do my best, not just at the start but throughout the year, because I’d really like to be able to have a chance to improve the school and influence the people in it.”

[reading this now it does sound a tad defensive, but I had to convince these people, some if which had possibly never actually heard me speak, that I could do it.]

Queue lots of gobsmacked faces, and then some applause, not to mention many astonished exclamations to each other and “wow, Aileen!”s (hehe, in spite of the shakyness and nerves, that was a good day!)

In case you were wondering, I did not get to be a prefect that year. I was next in line and would have probably done more than one or two of the actual prefects, as it turned out, but I also don’t think I would have had time if I had been voted in, so that was ok. I am still really glad I did it, and I surprised the people in my year, many of whom (?) didn’t actually know me all that well, other than the fact that I was quite quiet. 6th Year brought us all a lot closer, and I like to think that I came out of my shell considerably, and played a part in it all.

My speech also made me realise/adopt/embrace/I’m not really sure, but I chose “Do one thing everyday that scares you” as my life philosophy that day, and I have tried to live by it ever since.Things that ‘scare’ me may not be scary to everyone, but some of you might identify with them too. I have to say mine are mostly to do with being more outspoken and confident, or doing things I would normally decide are too hard/nerve-wracking etc.

Another part of my philosophy is a lot more recent, but also about courage (and to me courage is more about small things and daring to do things I would rather not, which usually turns out not to be as bad as I thought, and often even results in something amazing.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnAwPeqrdAk

A few weeks ago I was feeling slightly blue for multiple reasons, and I decided to watch a film to distract me/cheer myself up a bit. I was originally going for a comedy, but then thought I would watch “We bought a zoo”, because it seemed like a sweet film. (It was, and the little girl in it is soo cuuute! And it also has an amazing soundtrack by Jonsi, the guy from Sigur Ros, who brought us Hoppipolla). It not only made me feel better, but I also found a lovely quote in it by Benjamin Mee, the guy whose story the film is based on:

“it takes just 20 seconds of insane courage… 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery, and I promise you, something great will come out of it”

 

“You only get what you give” is a song by New Radicals, which also sums up my general attitude to life quite nicely: You’ve got the music in you!