Hi all! This week's blog post is supposed to be about some results we got in class last week. The thing is, I wasn't in class last week. I was sick, practically dying in the Cowell Health Center and being revived by some IV fluids. Yeah. They had to put an IV in my arm. It got pretty bad. Anyway, as soon as I get those results, I will bring yet another hard-hitting post to your computer screens. 

Hey again! Today I'm going to talk about the Relational Leadership Model. This really resonates with me because when I work in a group I prefer to engage all members of the group and work together. I have been known to take the lead on certain tasks but I really do prefer for everyone to be actively engaged.
I was a KAIROS leader (its a religious retreat) for my senior class. Chosen as a junior, me and 10 other girls ventured out to put on an eye-opening retreat for 80 reluctant second-semester seniors-- and you all know the mentality of a second-semester senior. Anyway we used the Relational Leadership Model to structure our meetings and it worked really well for a few reasons.
 1). We all had a common goal -> to give our class something truly special and memorable. 
2). All members of the team were actively engaged in preparing activities.
3). We were all very aware of our working strategies, which helped the other members tailor tasks to those specific work ethics (if that makes any sense).
4). We were so supportive of each other. We put in extra hours until every speech was just right!
5). The most important aspect was that we all respected each other unconditionally. We accepted criticism and understood that it was coming from a place of love--as cheesy as that sounds.

I believe this image clearly reflects social change. The ripple effect takes charge when starting with the individual's ideas. Then it grows larger and spreads farther when taking into account the group values. Then it extends to its limits with the social and community values.

Hi I'm Mikaela Bernstein from Los Angeles, California, so naturally, the weather here is too cold for me. I went to an all-girls Catholic school called Marymount. (side note: Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian and Mariska Hargitay all went to my high school). I'm a Psychology and Sociology double major and I hope to work for the FBI or Secret Service or Homeland Security one day. I love to play guitar, I just got a new Fender Acoustic/Electric for Christmas. His/Her name is Andy because I can't quite decide on a gender for it. Since I play guitar every day my nails on my left hand are consistently shorter than on my right hand so that I can hold the strings down. That's just one of my oddities. Two summers ago I took a trip to Costa Rica with my family. There were 23 of us, all wild, kooky, and loud. I'm an only child so any time I get to spend with my extended family holds a special place in my heart. It was honestly one of the best vacations of my life. Over the winter break I got a tattoo of the common Costa Rica saying "Pura Vida". It means "the pure life" or "the good life" and it reminds me to live fully and happily. My favorite show is How I Met Your Mother, but I watch every crime show on television. It could be considered a problem, but I like to think of it as studying for my future career :).