Following requires no effort. After pausing and reflecting on the nature of the hierarchical structures that dominate and govern the many institutions we take part in, one realizes that obedience and subservience is not only the easier route, it is rewarded. From a young age, students in primary school recognize that following directions, conforming to the classroom norms, and making life easier for the teacher warrants approval and satisfaction. In secondary school, teenagers catch on quickly to follow the exact instructions in solving a mathematical, scientific, or literary problem, as any other method besides that which is taught is deemed incorrect. Additionally, students come to understand that writing and discussing material in line with the teacher's set of beliefs often warrants the desired grade. In the universities, students are sat in massive lecture halls listening to a disheartened professor, who further instills that compliance triumphs. After those sixteen odd years of being taught to obey and subsequently reap the rewards, individuals are thrown into the workforce, where they strive to be promoted through achieving rapport with the superiors in charge. Throughout the early stages of life, we are groomed to follow, to obey, and to remain on the path of submission. As if the desire to fall in line was not already innate, the systems that supposedly serve us only further incentivize our servitude. So why don't more individuals step up? Taking a stand is difficult. It requires swimming upstream, going against the grain, or simply facing a mob of the collective. The individual has been neglected. The individual has been led to believe that his or her voice is insignificant, when this is indubitably the opposite. When an individual is instructed by authority that certain occurrences must occur precisely as authority presents it, the individual frequently backs down, out of panic and fear. Instead of questioning, pondering, or suggesting an alternative, the individual folds to authority only to reassert and reacknowledge the immense control that authority wields. A Lion would never bow to authority when he knows authority to be blatantly wrong, acting with ill-intent, or going against the values of the Lion. A Lion will make himself known. There is no downside to speaking your mind, just as there is no downside to the Lion's roar. Words and roars are both incredibly powerful. At worse, authority ignores it. At best, they fear you tremendously. Perhaps, if enough Lions surround the authority and pressure it to reconsider previous decisions, authority will have no choice. Speaking the truth and dissenting against the collective is always admirable. Whether it be telling a bully to back off or physically backing that bully into a corner, Lions never sit idly by. Nobility never kneels to that which instructs it to surrender. Courage never willingly forfeits to those who demand submission. Lions always question, always think critically, and always stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Little acts of strength add up. Do you have what it takes to be a Lion?