Leadership Initiative Paper #2

Magali Huitron
Elizabeth Velasquez & Mayra Villarreal
September 29, 2014
Ethnic Studies 21
MW: 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

We were able to be a part of Workshop 5 that counts for the Gold Certificate. The
presenter was Rikka, she is a good presenter because she displays positive energy. First we
reviewed the seven Cs and the eighth C.We went over the definition of the C we were
going to be talking about for the workshop, which was common purpose. Then we did an
activity.
The things we learned in the workshop are all things that can contribute to my success as
a student at Sac State. The meaning of common purpose that the presenter gave to us was To
work with shared aims and values. It facilitates groups ability to engage in collective analysis of
the issues at hand and task to be undertaken. While at Sac State I will have a shared common
purpose with many of my fellow classmates. One example is that we are all here pursuing a
higher education at the university level. We all want to graduate. In order to achieve our common
purpose we will need to work together. A great resource that we are all fortunate enough to be a
part of is CAMP. We are all here to graduate from college and we are all willing to help each
other. We have some values in common and that will help us work together. We also have some
of the same classes because of learning communities so we can help each other and that benefits
us all because we have a greater chance to get good grades.
In group work having a common purpose is very important. For example when everyone
wants to get a good grade it becomes so much easier for people to work together. On the other
hand if some people in the group want a good grade and some do not really care then it will be
frustrating for everyone. The people trying to get a good grade will be worried and the ones who
do not care will be mad that they are being assigned work. As a student knowing that a common
purpose is important I will be able to determine the goals that I should set in any environment
depending on the people I am working with. With some people I will need to strive for a less

demanding common purpose because I know that they will not be willing to put in a lot of work.
With other people I can set higher aims for a common purpose because they want to put in the
extra effort for a better outcome.
I felt the presentation had a good impact on me. Learning first about what a common
purpose is was helpful to guide us through the rest of the presentation. I also liked how we were
given examples of where a common purpose can have impact or where it can be present. These
examples were on the PowerPoint: 1. Occurrence with groups, 2. Presence in shared visions,
goals, and values, and 3. Role in working with others. In my head an example I came up with
was that in class when there is an exam everyone wants to pass so the students might get
together to study. Another example is when two or more people want to join the same sorority
or fraternity that is a common purpose.
After talking about common purpose and what it applies to we did an activity. The
activity was to make paper airplanes. It seems simple but we were in large groups and we had to
make them similar. We each had different instructions to make our planes different but in the end
they had to be similar and that was the common purpose. Some people didnt listen for the
instructions and they started making theirs on their own and them someone in our group
suggested we form a circle so we did. Then we started making our planes based on one persons
plane and then we each added our instruction that we had been handed like making it unique,
fast, or symmetrical. When we found our common purpose we were able to work together better
and help each other. We figured out that the planes needed to be built similarly but with a twist
of each person.

The most important outcome of the workshop for me was that we were all exposed to the
meaning of common purpose. Knowing that a common purpose usually exists is useful because
now we can all work together when we have the same goal or purpose.