I was exhausted and ready to give up; the rain blurred my vision, but I fought to keep my balance. The 12 foot wall loomed in front of me. The task was to hoist myself up and over it along with the seven other girls on my team. My arms were shaking, but I used all my strength to push upwards. I swung my leg over and hoisted myself onto the platform at the top of the wall. Looking down at the ground, my team wildly cheered and celebrated my success. My small victory would not win this battle. My entire team needed to rise to the challenge and stand here with me. This is just one of the many physically and mentally challenges of J. Kyle Braid leadership training camp that developed and strengthened my leadership skills by making me a more confident and prepared leader.
My leadership adventure began during my sophomore year of high school. I awoke one morning to my bedroom full of people cheering and yelling. In my sleepy state, I wondered what was going on. Then, I began to recognize the members of the Downers Grove North J.Kyle Braid club. “Congrats, Lauren! You are going to the ranch!” I was chosen to attend the leadership ranch in Colorado. J.Kyle Braid, a club with the mission to develop athletes into strong leaders, selected two girls and two boys to attend this leadership camp from Downers Grove North each year. My mission was to learn, develop, and strengthen my leadership skills and bring those skills back to my school. I kept hearing how it would
Firstly, in my Academic Career, I have held a multitude of leadership roles. My sophomore year , I was a class representative for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, commonly known as FCCLA. It was my duty to alert members and keep them up to date regarding meetings and activities. As a representative of FCCLA, I learned how to work as a unit leader and a team member.That same school year, I ran for the district office of secretary for FCCLA. The nomination and election process, gave me the opportunity to grow and nurture my leadership abilities. It was eminently challenging; but I learned the importance of discipline and hard work. I accomplished my goal and was nominated Secretary for FCCLA. This office allowed me to meet plenty
Since childhood, I had a chance to develop my leadership and organizational skills through sports and had my school team win many competitions. My school is one of the places where my leadership qualities are valued as I often become a head of many activities, such as staging plays, organizing shows and school trips with my teachers. Being a leader gives me the opportunity to work in a team and consider my peers’ ideas to make our plans creative and enjoyable for everyone. My personal traits help me to gain trust and respect of my peers as they believe me to be a positive, open-minded and reliable person. I have learned to solve problems and conflicts thanks to this great experience of leadership, and I am always ready to assist my peers when it is
Throughout my high school career I have been a part of a wide variety of programs in which my leadership characteristics have been used and expanded. One program I have thoroughly enjoyed is the Jacksonville’s Mayor’s Young Leaders Advisory Council. From being on this council for two years, I have grown more than I imagined I would. I have been the chair for two committees, made business connections, gained experience in law, and been made open to other viewpoints. I have also lead in a more personal setting, as I was a preschool teacher at my church and have been a leader of community groups. What I have taken from being a leader is that it continually challenges you. Even if you may be an expert in your field, you will always find there is something new to experience and learn for yourself. To be a part of Florida Southern’s Honors Program would mean that I would not only get a one-of-a-kind experience in academics, but I would be shaped and well-rounded in leadership so I could excel in my
Throughout my time as a young adult I have had countless amounts of people tell me that they see me as a leader. They told me that I have the traits and the skills of someone who can have success in leadership positions. Truthfully, I never really understood what they meant. I knew that I was a good public speaker, but I never really understood what else I had. In high school I was always put in leadership positions whether it was an officer of the National Honor Society or captain of my sport teams, but I never really understood what drove me to attain those positions. I continued my quest for leadership positions in high school with every student organization I joined. Whether it was Pi Kappa Phi fraternity or Dance Marathon I felt the need to prove to others that I can more than just a member, but a leader. It wasn’t until I took this class that I truly understood what made me a leader. Because of this class I was able to better understand what are my leadership traits, my leadership styles, and how I use those in order to attain and succeed in leadership positions. Throughout this paper I will explain how Career Leadership Academy allowed me to realize what made me a leader and analyze the ways to improve at my future leadership positions.
As people get older, leadership and involvement become a huge part of who they are and how they carry themselves. Are they able to take on responsibilities, express opinions and make decisions among their peers? Are they respectable and reliable and therefore able to inspire and support others? Are they outgoing, and positive? All are essential for a leader. Throughout the past 5 years, I have taken on several leadership roles. I have taken on more responsibilities in 4-H and Kane County Ambassadors. I have participated in high school cheerleading, competitive All-Star cheerleading, and Varsity cheerleading here at St. Ambrose. Additionally, I have gotten involved in SAU’s Student Government Association as the Freshmen Class President. Participation
A leader takes diligent time in considering the ability to adhere to other people’s interests and presents their followers with a positive mindset. This summer, I accepted an invitation to participate in the Dale Carnegie Young Adult Leadership Program. Attendees of this program learned several skills that can be applied to future experiences, especially on how to become an effective leader. Everyday, the attendees acted as leaders by accomplishing various tasks that forced them to reach out of their comfort zones. We acted as leaders by leading group
I learned how to be a leader through my experiences in the softball community. A couple years back I tried out for a big local organization called the Bandits. It was suppose to be the best team around with high caliber athletes. And that’s just what we
My own unique leadership experiences have shaped me over the years. Peer leadership and the Chick-fil-a Leadership Academy have offered me a wide variety of unique leadership experiences. I have learned so much from organizing charitable events, to teaching social skills to autistic and other special needs middle-schoolers and the ABCs and 123s to kindergartners. As a role as Varsity lacrosse captain allows me to mentor and share my experiences with other players. Last year, my advice helped a player decide not to quit the team.
As an introvert, I never believed that leadership would be my cup of tea. Quiet, observant, soft-spoken. Those are not the traits of a leader...or so I thought. Then, I journeyed to Europe for 20 days with People to People to become a Student Ambassador. Meeting a Parliament member in England and representing The United States of America to a group of German students opened my eyes to the world of leadership and showed me how capable of leading I truly was. Entering my sophomore year of high school, I was selected to be a National Honor Society Member, the Vice President of the Beta Club, and a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. While all of the leadership positions I’ve experienced have been extraordinary and eye opening, the most significant
The role of leader did not appeal to me, the only reason why I didn’t look forward to leading was because I didn’t think anyone would follow. Mr. G expressed to me that I needed to take pride in what I do and set the standard for others to follow. I took these words and put them into action with my first step starting with the track team. I quickly began to inspire others to reach beyond their capabilities and perform with maximum effort. The classroom processed the same way, Mr. G made each and everyone of his students give their best efforts on each test we took and our test scores gradually
Leadership is defined as the power or ability to lead other people. Historically, I have strived to be a person that my peers would call a leader. I want to be a part of the Florida Leadership Academy so that I can learn new leadership skills from other proven leaders, as well as spread some of the skills that I have honed over the years. Throughout my life, I have pursued numerous leadership roles such as assistant captain of my high school’s varsity ice hockey team, Lead Volunteer at Young At Art, and currently, the secretary of the University of Florida Student Investment club. In addition, as a sophomore in high school, I took the initiative to apply and enroll at the College Academy at Broward College. This decision was a unique opportunity
My leadership skills have greatly increased throughout my high school years. I started off as the history fair project group leader to the Development Director and speaker of my Philanthropic Board in Education class. I used to be the type of person who was shy and stage fright but I learned to face those fears and became the outgoing person I am today. My purpose was to be in charge of and interface with my classmates to create a fundraiser for a non-profit organization in our community. I had to communicate with each individual in order to bring the plan together, which wasn’t a piece of cake since not everyone interacts in the same manner. Although it was only a group of twenty-one students, I still faced challenges that I eventually conquered.
I am fortunate to have been given an opportunity to participate in prestigious organizations that have helped me develop my leadership skills. Throughout junior year I participated in New Century Leadership with the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. I was blessed to connect with students from various schools in the area and visit organizations across Lubbock County that makes West Texas unique. Being able to gain knowledge about the components of Lubbock that do not receive the receive they deserve provided me with a new appreciation for my
When confronted with failure, we can give up or stand up. This choice can go all the way back to the playground. That first leap for the monkey bars more often than not ends with a face full of wood chips. At that moment, one must choose to dust themselves off and try again, or to wait for mom and dad to save them. As a freshman, I didn’t fail because I never ”leaped for the monkey bars.” My feet were planted safely on the ground, so I never took any risks. Being guarded meant I would never fail, which really meant that I would never grow. Luckily, I got involved with student leadership. My feet loosened from the ground and my character started to grow. I decided to apply to become a Colorado State Student Leader Repressive at the end of my freshman year. At that
I am a born leader. Even when I am not looking for leadership opportunities they always seem to fall into my lap. My life has been one that is based on service to others, so I regularly volunteer for committees and extend myself to help others. It is important to me to be the best teacher I can, I regularly attend professional development sessions and implement my new learning in the classroom. However, upon starting the Teacher Leadership Master’s program at Lamar University, I was just beginning my career as a teacher leader. I had not had many opportunities to show leadership outside of my grade-level team. During team planning meetings, I normally directed the discussions. My coworkers looked to me for guidance and interpretation of the curriculum. I regularly made suggestions about teaching strategies. Additionally, I was a member of various campus committees including the Campus Performance Objective Committee (CPOC) where worked together with campus administrators and community partners to develop the Campus Improvement Plan. However, I did not view these tasks as leadership opportunities.