Our campus isn’t a stranger to leadership– student and organization leaders can be found everywhere. Evergreens habitually congregate at Starbucks, RAs can be found decorating the residence halls, and even Rev. Linnane is frequently seen running around the quad for exercise.

Leadership is even one of our university’s core values, along with academic excellence, service, and justice. Students are filled with the desire and passion to become great leaders, but our leadership isn’t exclusive to those who hold positions and manage groups.

Sure, leadership involves the courage to stand up and make a difference. Look at “Hunger Games” heroine Katniss Everdeen and comic superhero Superman, for example. They are leaders because they stood up, and because they refused to let evil happen while they sat and watched. Superman fought off Lex Luthor and his evil plans, while Katniss Everdeen fought President Snow and the leaders of Panem for peace and equality among the districts and the Capitol.

However, not every leader is a Katniss or a Superman. A strong leader is a person who is able to overcome adversity while simultaneously staying true to themselves. Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was the first African American to sit in the Oval Office. Our country has a painful history of racial aggression that continues into today, but Barack Obama’s presidency marked an era of change in modern America.

Insightful and free of scandals, his administration made serious progress toward a more open-minded and accepting country through his work on the Paris Agreement for climate change and advocacy for the legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Obama was the change he wanted to see in America. He embodied what he wanted for the country despite the opposition he faced as the first African American President.

Leaders like Obama lead by their example, just as many students on campus do. When I was  a first year, I would look to upperclassmen and think they would have everything together. I would see them at Starbucks typing papers and chatting with their friends and where they should go off-campus to get dinner.

Whether we realize this or not, someone is always looking up to us, whether it’s a prospective student, a sibling, or someone sitting next to us in class. A role model isn’t something we choose to be. We are chosen as role models by the people around us and how we inspire the people around us to become better people every day. The list of people I looked up to from my first  year of college (and still look up to today) grows by the day and contains so many diverse, hardworking, and wonderful people on campus.

Everyday we must remember that people are looking up to us to be role models. Whether that be friends, classmates, family, or complete strangers. This means that we must lead in our everyday actions and should be cognizant of this responsibility. We lead when we stand in solidarity with the Loyola LGBTQ community by wearing our Ignatian-Q conference shirts. We lead when we say thank you to the Starbucks baristas as we get our Tapingo orders.

We lead when we hit the library during midterms week. We lead when we sign petitions to bring back Boulder’s to-go boxes. We may not think we are leading, but we are always an example for someone else to follow. Campus is packed full with amazing and capable students who lead merely with their lives and their attitudes, serving everyday as leaders for the community purely in their good actions.