Key Club and George Eliot | Argumentation #4

The Realist movement was a literary movement in direct response to the glorified and hyper-optimistic Romantic movement. This movement arose around the time of events such as the civil war, and focused on what was happening right in front of people, rather than exaggerated or mystified stories that came before it. People like George Eliot highlighted the values of a realist in her direct attitude, and rational thinking. Rather than seeing the good in people and leaders, she emphasized that people are not born leaders nor are they born perfect, and that should not be a factor that clouds judgement on whether or not the leader is good for their position. Examples of people that are nowhere near perfect, but are beneficial for their roles are people such as high school students everywhere, and specifically CNH Key Club District and Division leaders.

The California-Nevada-Hawaii Key Club District is the largest district in Key Club International, and is heavily run by young student leaders throughout the three states. I myself also serve as one of these student leaders, and can say that none of us are perfect in any aspect. Though the process of selecting these leaders may seem excessive, the district has come to accept the fact that these high school students are not going to be perfectly polished leaders, but still contribute to the forward movement of the organization as a whole. In my personal experience, serving as a Lieutenant Governor, none of us were perfect, or knew exactly what to do and how to do it, and that was okay. Though I was in no way a great leader, I was still able to contribute $1,620 for the Pediatric Trauma Program, and there were leaders out there who have contributed so much more for this cause and many others. Throughout the term, we as students were pushed to our limits and shaped into better leaders than what we were, and in turn provide more for the organization. As a whole, these 80-something high school students, although drama-hungry, and ultimately still adolescents, were still able to contribute to the greater good of an organization, and for the world around them.

Though some may be flawed, and definitely not perfect, leadership comes from numbers and ideas. It is not dependent whether or not someone enjoys boba and lives for the ABG lifestyle. Strong leadership must be built up, and worked to be improved upon, and not expected to be initially perfect or ideal.