Ben Santagate

Prof. Becker

PSY-228-01

19 October 2022

Leadership at Nichols College

There are plenty of leaders in this world. Martin Luther King Jr, U.S. presidents

and senators, but to take a look at the deeper meaning of what truly is a leader, there is

a special person in the community of Nichols that I chose. For my leader that I have

chosen, it is Brian McCoy, a psychology professor as Nichols College where he got his

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at Anna Maria College (1985), his masters in

Counseling Psychology at Assumption College, and his Ed.D. in Educational Policy,

Research, and Administration at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

The reason I chose McCoy was many reasons. For one, he obviously brought a

smile to everyone's face every time he comes to class. He makes many dad jokes and

dark humor jokes that personally I find funny and he is a very unique teacher that I have

had.

Examples of how Professor models the way for students in general is by giving

them a base line structure by teaching students the hard truth in life and not everything

is sunshine and rainbows. Professor is a very kind soul but always looks for the best in

his students such as myself. For me, I am a hard person to read, but he really could

read my expressions on days I’m down or days I am excited. McCoy inspires a vision in

the young minds of his students by telling them how hard life will be but it gets easier as

time moves along. McCoy challenges the process by searching for answers in class by
asking simple yet diverse questions. His mind set of reading a book, taking notes, then

talking about it in class is a very unique and powerful structural aspect of learning more

as a student. If you say “I don’t know” in class, he will keep pressing forward for you to

spit out an answer, and to me, that shows that he wants kids to learn to not be afraid to

speak their mind in a group of people. To teach young minds that it is okay to be

scared, but to still put your best foot forward. Professor McCoy doesn't always talk the

whole time, he doesn't lecture the whole class like others; instead he lets students talk

amongst themselves to understand where others are coming from. Encouraging the

hearts of students is one of the most important and powerful things to do as a teacher,

to protect them and make them feel safe by telling them to not be so scared in life,

encouraging them to never lose focus.

McCoy and I's Leadership is somewhat the same because we both love to

understand how others are feeling in the moment and to push a little bit into what is

going on. Being empathetic towards others is a great way to show that you are there for

your students, not as a teacher, but as a human. Leadership traits that he exhibits are

empathy, communication and passion. With these selfless traits, McCoy will always be

a great mentor to the young students at Nichols, especially for psychology.

If Brian McCoy was a superhero, he would be Batman because his superpower

is intelligence and being stinkin’ rich. I believe he would be Batman because he is

always quick thinking and understandable of what others think of themselves. Funny

because McCoy loves his car and would want that multi billion dollar vehicle.

Coming from a person who is majoring in psychology, it is very important to

recognize the people that we might be working with in the future and to understand how
we all have different life experiences but can learn it together, and build off of it to

become true leaders for those who are scared to shout their ideas.