misterkevinsun
May 7, 2010
Undergraduate / Building a Team - Personal Statement [3]
Hey guys! If you would be so kind as to help me with a personal statement of mine, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks! The assignment asked to write a personal statement about a character-defining moment, a personal hardship, or something along those lines.
I looked distressingly over to my group advisor, Mr. Kern. We made eye contact, and his eyes told me, "You're their candidate. Not me." I realized that this was my group and I needed to lead them to win the mock senatorial election at the National Leadership Summit. I had qualities of a leader like ambition and diligence, but leading is a very reciprocal process. To say that leaders are driven and hardworking would be too basic a description; leaders bring out the best in their teams to reach a common goal, and I needed to do just that.
It is said that you can learn a lot about a person within the first minute of meeting him or her. Having met my group for a few hours, I had observed enough to form a team. Kimya sat two seats away, sketching her hand on a sheet of notebook paper. Every nuance and shade of the meticulously drawn hand told me she would flourish as the media specialist, a duty which entailed making campaign posters. Alec sat at the far corner of the table, entertaining his neighbors with his contagiously upbeat personality. He would be perfect as a press secretary, who socialized and in doing so, got my name out. Jeremy sat nearby with his Dell laptop open, reading the current events, and I knew he would enjoy being head researcher. And so this process continued until the team was complete.
In the end, our efforts culminated in a victory. I could tell you it was due to a grasp of elocution. I could tell you it was due to ambition. However, these qualities are peripheral to why I succeeded. I succeeded because I brought together a group of different people who I had met just a few hours before and made them a team. From the stage, during the mock inauguration, I looked to Mr. Kern again. This time, he was clapping. His eyes told me, "You did it."
Hey guys! If you would be so kind as to help me with a personal statement of mine, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks! The assignment asked to write a personal statement about a character-defining moment, a personal hardship, or something along those lines.
I looked distressingly over to my group advisor, Mr. Kern. We made eye contact, and his eyes told me, "You're their candidate. Not me." I realized that this was my group and I needed to lead them to win the mock senatorial election at the National Leadership Summit. I had qualities of a leader like ambition and diligence, but leading is a very reciprocal process. To say that leaders are driven and hardworking would be too basic a description; leaders bring out the best in their teams to reach a common goal, and I needed to do just that.
It is said that you can learn a lot about a person within the first minute of meeting him or her. Having met my group for a few hours, I had observed enough to form a team. Kimya sat two seats away, sketching her hand on a sheet of notebook paper. Every nuance and shade of the meticulously drawn hand told me she would flourish as the media specialist, a duty which entailed making campaign posters. Alec sat at the far corner of the table, entertaining his neighbors with his contagiously upbeat personality. He would be perfect as a press secretary, who socialized and in doing so, got my name out. Jeremy sat nearby with his Dell laptop open, reading the current events, and I knew he would enjoy being head researcher. And so this process continued until the team was complete.
In the end, our efforts culminated in a victory. I could tell you it was due to a grasp of elocution. I could tell you it was due to ambition. However, these qualities are peripheral to why I succeeded. I succeeded because I brought together a group of different people who I had met just a few hours before and made them a team. From the stage, during the mock inauguration, I looked to Mr. Kern again. This time, he was clapping. His eyes told me, "You did it."
