A good leader is someone who isn’t afraid to do all the tedious work. My name is Leilah Eusebio and I am a recent graduate from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. I plan to teach high school students Japanese after I receive my master’s degree, which I will start in the fall. To be honest, I thought that a good leader should be perfect. Now, I realize that I was wrong. My most memorable leadership experience was when I started helping my teacher with classes in the martial arts dojo I attended. When I started helping out with classes, I was not the perfect teacher. In fact, it took me five years to improve. I felt ashamed because I wondered why it took so long. However, I came to realize that taking time to improve is not terrible. It just means you can be better to the people around you and most importantly, yourself. The biggest challenge I faced training at the dojo was the toxic environment. My teacher, who I initially thought was amazing and supportive, was the complete opposite. He was controlling, disrespectful and led with fear. He favored certain students and let them off the hook for certain things over others. There was a time he yelled at me when I asked him if I could go to my doctor’s appointment instead of helping him with an event. To which he replied, “No! This is too important to skip.” Then he tells everyone, “Tell your parents how important this is.” Ironically, the phrase he’d always say, “lead by example,” was one of the core beliefs I carried my entire time there. But another belief, “A good leader listens,” was another of the core beliefs. The moment my teacher yelled at me because I asked to go to an appointment was the moment I realized he does not listen to people around him, meaning he is not a good leader. As a result, I strived to become the kind of leader that everyone felt safe around at the dojo. However, the process to become this kind of leader was not perfect. I started out raising my voice and being mean because I was following the example some of the other leaders showed. For example, one of the older leaders had to tell me, “Leilah, you’re scaring the students.” As soon as I realized that I did not like who I became, I immediately worked to change that. By the time five years passed, I was the sole leader who earned the respect of all the students through my hard work and leadership. I was strict with the students because I knew they had potential to be amazing martial artists in the future. In fact, I did not know the impact of my leadership until I left back in 2022. I had parents personally tell me, “Thank you so much for believing in my child and pushing them to do great. You are so amazing and you have grown so much.” One of the friends I made at the dojo even said, “You were the one I really respected because I felt that you sincerely believe that I could be great.” And knowing that I had that kind of impact surprised me. With that in mind, I plan to use the leadership skills I am still refining to be a safe space for people to be themselves. I plan to show others that they can do what they put their mind to because it is possible. A good leader is someone who leads by example AND listens.