Leadership can shine in so many different ways and scenarios, but one way I have been seeing it flourish in unexpected ways recently, more than ever, has been at our apartment. Leadership in the household, I’d like to call it. As you can imagine, a downtown apartment with four guys get messy pretty quickly. And with four individual schedules with not too much of overlap, it becomes even harder to coordinate chores and responsibilities. Dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms, and so many other items on the giant laundry list of chores become muddled and pile up, and that’s where problems within the apartment can arise.

I often like to think of leadership as the ability to set the best example, no matter what the stage. Being the exemplar, and doing it silently, is something I personally value in a leader, and a trait I have been trying to reflect in everything I do, whether it be inside the classroom or out. Luckily enough, it didn’t take much for me to take these exact ideals and values and incorporate them into my personal life at home. Starting a few months ago, I simply started doing all the dishes once I saw that the sink was full. Regardless of whose dishes they actually are, my goal is to simply rinse them and put them in the dishwasher where I can run a quick load. Here, the dishes are taken care of with really no extra effort than if I were to just wash my own dishes. And doing this has also allowed me to set a type of precedent for the apartment – I’ve quietly set an example regarding the dishes, and I’ve taken charge as a result.

What I began to notice in the weeks following this shift, however, was just as positive. I noticed the leadership my roommates were taking on with respect to other responsibilities in the apartment. I’ve scarcely taken out the trash as one of my roommates has assumed responsibility. Another one takes the time to quickly vacuum our carpets every weekend to make sure they don’t get too dirty. And while they certainly likely wanted to keep quiet about their initiative, I’ve noticed it. It’s been a refreshing part of living off campus for the past few months, and only adds on to the great times and memories I’ve been able to share with my roommates since moving in. I’m especially proud of the “household leadership” that we’ve displayed over the last few weeks and hope that this silent but strong communication can continue into next semester.