To lead, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, has varying meanings depending on the context. The three that struck me the most are the following (and are among the first definitions that appear in the dictionary):

• to guide on a way especially by going in advance
• to serve as a channel for
• to go through: to live

My name is Cassadie, and I’ve just finished a three-year term in a peer leadership position for one of the women's homes here at Excel College. This position is meant to provide opportunity for peer leadership amongst our students, and was designed to provide guidance, direction, and stewardship for the homes.

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To Guide on a Way by Going in Advance

“You can’t lead people somewhere you’ve never gone before.” This was a principle that was introduced to me at the beginning of my time in peer leadership, when I was still a student leading other students. It opened my eyes to what leadership would require of me — bravery, courage, and the willingness to go somewhere I maybe wouldn’t have gone before — for the sake of others. If I wanted the women in my home to grow in humility and honor, grace and freedom, or honesty and integrity, then I needed firsthand experience in these areas; I needed to explore these territories and know them well enough to bring other people into them with me. 

This could take so many forms — from doing the dishes when everyone else was in class or at work, to diving deep into my relationship with the Lord, to making a decision for the home that may have garnered some grumbling but knowing it would ultimately lead to the health of the home. If I wanted to see a habit develop in the home, I learned that I needed to be the one to begin just doing it. It always caught on sooner or later and eventually blossomed into a culture within the home. It is one thing to hear someone with quite a few years more life experience than you share wisdom on how to live life well — it is another thing entirely to see it lived out by a fellow twenty-something year old.

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To Serve as a Channel For

This definition was an unexpected treasure for me to read, as it reflects a reality that was revealed throughout my three-year journey as a leader in the home. My role may have been “leader”, but in reality God was always the one doing the leading. In my role, I simply got to serve as a vessel for His love to the women around me. I sought His voice in the midst of conflict resolution, I looked to Him for words of encouragement and strength amidst the (literal) hurricanes of life, I asked Him for vision and direction. Ultimately, I did my best to love the girls in my home the way He does — without condition, and always with their benefit in mind. As a peer leader, you get to partner with what He’s already doing in their lives.

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To Go Through: To Live

This is my personal favorite. Within peer leadership, you don’t have to become something entirely new or different. You simply get to keep doing what you were already doing — living your life with intention and excellence, wholly submitted unto the Lord — with the knowledge that you now get to invite others into it. “The glory of God is man fully alive,” after all (St. Irenaeus).

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My time as a leader in the home taught me that there is something so special about peer leadership. It offers opportunities for growth, both for the one leading and those being led, that are priceless and unique to the season of life that is your college years.