Every Columbia College student’s journey toward leadership is unique and builds on their personal experiences and dreams. Read about how the 4Cs of leadership are interpreted by a diverse group of young women, a new generation of leaders who are already making a positive difference.

Linda’s Story

Linda S. Posey grew up in Germany, leaving for the United States at 18, returning to the country where she had spent just one year, the first grade. Posey, born in 1980, attended schools for military children, graduating from Gen. H.H. Arnold High School, a Department of Defense school in Wiesbaden. Her mother taught music in military schools, while her father worked in computer networking.

Posey got her first taste, an indelible taste, of drama in elementary school; she participated in a simulation of medical problems. “I was given a list of symptoms and a diagnosis. I had a hurt back.” Then her mother cast her in a middle-school production, “My first real role. I had a solo,” a Broadway tune. Over time, Posey decided singing and dancing were her forte. In high school, she founded and led the Camerata Show Choir. At 18, “fresh out of high school,” Posey headed to New York City and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. “Okay, we’re going to do it!” she told herself and an accompanying friend. She remained in the Big Apple for five years, earning a certificate of performance from the academy and enduring the “day-after-day” trial of auditions while working as a receptionist at a furniture store. Among her successes was touring as Ellie Cratchit in “A Christmas Carol.”  

She says, “At that time, I was dead set on being a performer.” However, after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center complex and the Pentagon, performers found getting jobs more difficult. Along the way, Posey had worked again with her mother and her mother’s students and decided, “I really want to be a teacher.” Posey had a connection at Columbia College: Norma Kirkland, an associate professor and coordinator of the bachelor of music degree in music education. “I knew her my whole life,” says Posey, who calls Kirkland a surrogate aunt. “I called her up, and she said, ‘Come down and take a tour.’” Posey’s sister was already living in Columbia, thanks to the Kirkland connection, and her parents were now nearby in Georgia.

So Posey began work on a bachelor of music in music education. During her sophomore year, Posey was elected president of the show choir; she also served as the show choir’s choreographer. She performed in musicals at Workshop Theater, including “A Chorus Line” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie;” she starred as the Cat in the Hat in “Seussical: The Musical.” At Trustus Theater, she performed in “Cabaret;” at Columbia College, she performed in the opera “Hansel and Gretel.” She helped start the Tapas Theater at the college. She conducted a workshop on performance as a career, offering tips on auditions, resume writing and head shots, which are photographic portraits. She found advantage in being a little older than most students. “People would think, ‘She’s a sophomore, but she’s been to New York. Maybe she knows what she’s talking about.’ But I didn’t kid myself; I knew I had things to learn.”
Posey believes she best put to work the 4 C’s -- leadership development that emphasizes courage, commitment, confidence, and competence  --  when she did her student teaching at Crayton Middle School. “That’s a middle  school with the richest of the rich and poorest of the poor and a music program that had been going downhill. I used my courage in student teaching. I had to think outside the box with them and use my competence. Of 14 students I worked with, 10 had individualized education programs (provided public school students with special needs) while four others were the four smartest in the whole school. It was very challenging.” Posey gave herself pep talks based on the 4C’s. “I told myself I’ve got to have confidence. I’ve got to push them. They can’t get the better of me. When you’ve got middle school students almost two feet taller, you’ve got to show you know what you’re doing. You can have a good time and be real.” And when it came to competence, “I was teaching a lesson on hip hop. I told the students I lived in New York, and the kids perked up. They said, ‘All right. She’s cool.’”

She believes it’s important to understand that not all leadership is “presidential.” She says, “You can also find leadership in small acts, like taking a student aside and saying, ‘We’re in English together, and I can help you.’ People need to understand leadership exists on a variety of levels.”