Public Relations Ashley Kim

My final task was to finish coloring Spider-Man’s leg, and as I laid on the floor discomfort enveloped the room so intensely you could hear a pin drop. This situation came about because I was one of the three people chosen to be apart of the Public Relations commission in my Leadership class. Our first order of business: construct 5-feet-wide calendars that included every school event and a hand-drawn superhero unique to the month. The two other girls in PR and I met up everyday where we encountered torturously long hours filled with complete, awkward silence.

I had always dreamt of joining Leadership, and my expectation of being immediately thrusted into a close-knit family met reality as I couldn’t understand why that wasn’t happening within my own commission. Deeming myself an extremely shy person, I doubted my ability to act as the driving force in bringing us together. But I realized the work I was going to be doing in Leadership meant too much for me to allow tension to stifle our potential; I needed to put in effort to build the bond that I imagined. To show I was comfortable around them, I initiated conversations and opened up. As I persistently presented myself as someone they could trust, they began to follow suit;...