Undergraduate / "My Turn to Lead" - Purdue essay [3]

Prompt: What are the qualities of a good leader? Use examples from your personal experiences to illustrate your particular leadership style.

My Turn to Lead

The same place I returned to each and every summer meant the world to me, yet I seemed to take those years for granted since I never could imagine myself at such an "old" age where my time as a carefree camper would soon come to an end. Reality unexpectedly hit me during my staff in training (S.I.T.) summer when I realized it was my turn to make camp so meaningful to the future generation of campers. I was to become the fun, optimistic S.I.T. that I had long looked up to every summer. In order to spread my love for camp onto younger campers, I knew it was vital for me to step up and bring out the best person inside of me through being open-minded, caring and relatable, while still acting like my true self.

This role I was about to obtain was all about displaying one's strongest leadership skills. Unlike the crazy and loud S.I.T.'s, I came off to be calmer. Me being more calm led others to think I was more of a shy person. People show their leadership in different ways and I wanted to prove everyone wrong who thought that being quieter would result in a bad role model for this responsibility. For instance, one day, a camper came up to me in tears explaining that she was homesick. In order to resolve their homesickness, I incorporated my experience with being homesick my first year as a camper by taking her mind off of home and planned a fun activity for her whole cabin.

Truthfully, my main goal through this experience wasn't all about proving myself to be just a great leader, but I wanted to make a major impact on the lives of these kids whom I spent my time with for several weeks. I wanted to share my passion for camp with them and show them how the traditions of camp have changed my life for the better.

By sharing my passion for what I truly loved seemed effortless. Even better, I was able to act like my true character and didn't have to pretend to act like someone else to obtain the status of being a leader. Throughout these eight weeks, my knowledge and passion about being an influential leader has significantly opened my mind to what a leader actually means; furthermore, I don't agree with how the ideal thought about a leader pertains to only representing one specific type of person. Leadership is able to be portrayed through numerous types of personalities.

Undergraduate / " Mission to Getting Certified" about something that makes me unique- extracurricular [7]

*****how can i make the ending better and incorporate more about myself?

Mission to Getting Certified

I do not like having to struggle down the narrow, slippery dock, I do not like having to carry a massive tank of steal that completely dominates my body while an enormous gust of wind afflicts my balance. But I do like what I will receive at the end of this in just a few short hours. I entered the rocking boat gracelessly and made my way toward an empty seat. Curiosity seemed to emanate from the others in the boat, as if they could tell that I was an amateur and wondered how I would perform in severe weather. The thought of choppy waves, vigorous winds, and strong currents overwhelmed me. Ultimately, I shook away all thoughts of fear and proceeded into the water.

Seconds later, I was immersed into the uninviting waves. Of course to my luck, the last task required me to perform above the water. I already wasn't sure if the amount of strength I had could support me for much longer. Lowering my head into the water, I spotted a group of professional scuba divers headed towards an exotic cave. Immediately, I felt re-inspired to bear through this final step to shortly become one of them. I focused my attention back to my instructor who told me to remove my vest and tank. The waves along with the current completely empowered my entire body as I worked every muscle in my body to keep me in place. I tried my best to block out the feeling of being tired and thought about how close I was to being done with this course.

After an exhausting period of time, I finally finished! Letting the waves carry me back to the boat, I then sat down feeling the greatest sense of relief. My determination into succeeding this course has led me into being able to view one of the most fascinating places on Earth.