Undergraduate / curiosity and passion ; Motivation and Leadership [3]

Prompt: What motivates and shapes your leadership style and desire to succeed?

I believe that curiosity and passion are the underlying forces behind my deep desire to succeed. As a person with a naturally curious mindset, I am attracted to solving complex problems. In fact, it is the thrill of solving these problems and experimenting with their results that gives me the drive to succeed. My passion for solving problems and discovering new ideas along with my curious mindset greatly shape my leadership style.

Over the past few years, I have greatly enjoyed the journey of developing my leadership style. One experience in particular that stands out is my time with the Environmental Council. As president, I wanted to drive myself along with other team members to achieve our goal: receiving platinum eco-certification by the Toronto District School Board. Through a common vision, I was able to bring my team together to work on building a greener school. Together we combined our passion for the environment and curious mindsets to develop ways in which the school could reduce its ecological footprint. Through my participative leadership style, I was able to motivate all members to achieve our goal.

This is only 185 words. Needs to be 250! Help!

Prompt: Write about a leader that you like and one you don't like.

"It is a curious thing, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, find to their own surprise that they wear it well." These words were said by a respected leader, Albus Dumbeldore, a fictional character from the Harry Potter series. The series presents a variety of leaders; one in particular that I admire is Harry Potter whereas Lord Voldermot is one that I do not greatly admire.

I believe that true leaders don't seek power; in fact they seek to motivate others, influence them and guide them to achieve their goals. This is the differentiating quality between Harry Potter and Lord Voldermot, from the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. Voldermot was the kind of leader that sought power. He had a very dictorial leadership style compared to Harry who was humble and self less. Voldermot motivated his followers through fear and greed whereas Harry motivated his followers through a common vision. I believe that motivating through a common vision can lead up to the establishment of a great team, where everyone works together to achieve the same goal. Fear and greed will only attract opportunists, who lack passion and drive.

One of the best qualities of a good leader is the ability to earn others' trust and also to put trust into others. Harry displayed both aspects of this quality whereas Voldermot failed to put trust into others. He failed to trust others with important tasks and insisted upon doing them himself, therefore taking longer to achieve his goals. Harry however was able to trust others, therefore he could rely on their strengths and they could leverage their weaknesses through his strengths. Trust is a two way road, both the leaders and the followers must be able to put complete trust and faith into each other.

True leadership is displayed through passion, humbleness and selflessness. I believe that great leaders provide a clear vision, and help guide others with similar intentions.

Do you think the first paragraph is kind of irrelevant. I don't know how to start it off :S

Undergraduate / Leadership, Group work , Perspective, Accomplishing Goals [2]

Couple of responses to questions for my undergrad application.
Your help is really appreciated!! Critique away :)

Describe your most significant leadership experience. Why do you consider this your most significant leadership role?I can still feel the blood in my body rush. I can still smell the excitement that moment offered. I stared at thin air, starry-eyed, shaking in disbelief when I was chosen to be the president of the Environmental Council. Leading my team to achieve Platinum-Eco Certification was crucial. My passion for the environment was now stronger than ever.

Receiving Platinum certification was a rigorous process including a two part audit judging the school's environmental responsibility, energy conservation and waste reduction. Achieving platinum certification could not be accomplished by my efforts alone; but through the mutual efforts of my team, staff, students and the entire school community.

As a team we came up with ways to promote these efforts - through communicating our successes and losses to the school community. We asked for community participation during recycling events, encouraged students to walk to school, created informative plays, videos and displays encouraging sustainable practices.

With the joint efforts of my team, and the entire school community, our school was one of the 57 Eco schools across the Toronto District School Board to receive Platinum Eco Certification. Through our combined efforts we made a difference and helped build a sustainable future.

Describe your most significant group work experience including the role you played and your contributions?What if they don't take this seriously? What if they don't listen? What if something goes wrong? My mind was full of what-if scenarios the morning of the very first MindShift performance. We had spent the past few months planning this day down to the minute, rehearsed every line, and perfected every act. The lights turn off, I hear the opening music. It's show time! I report as Lieutenant Waterworks to the Captain of Spaceship Earth.

MindShift is a play about shifting the culture that we live in and understanding humanity's role and impact on the earth. The play begins with Spaceship Earth in distress. The ship experiences increasing challenges to its life-support systems (water, atmosphere, terrain, health and energy) as it travels through time.

As one of the five life-support systems, I had to work with the other life-support systems to garb the audience and stress the importance of these environmental problems.

Through months of rehearsals and practices, we became a support system for each other on stage - improvising to cover each others mistakes, celebrating our success and supporting each other through hard times. Putting together a successful performance requires great commitment. It is this commitment that establishes lasting relationships within the cast & crew on-stage and off-stage.

Tell us about an experience, in school or out, that caused you to rethink or change your perspective. What impact has this had on you?"If you never step outside the box, all you will ever know is these four walls. And eventually these walls will close in and suffocate you." The words of Jyoti Subramanian echo in my ears to this day. Four years later, as I reflect on that day, I can confidently say that Challenge Day changed my perspective.

November 16, 2009. Challenge Day. It was the day that I first stepped outside of my box. It was the day that I first shared a personal struggle with my peers. It was the day that I listened to some of my peers' struggles for the first time. And it was that day that I realized I wasn't alone. Challenge Day taught me how to open up to others, listen to them, and trust them.

I remember Jyoti saying "Challenge Day begins when you walk out these doors". She was right, when I walked out the doors of the gym that day, I was a changed person. I was no longer confined in the four walls of the box. I was open to share my struggles with others, and help them with theirs.

Tell us more about one of the activities you listed above, explaining what your goals were, what you did to pursue them, the results achieved, and what you learned in the process.As part of Students of Toronto for Environmental Progress (STEP), my goal was to assist in the planning of the Youth Food Summit. The Youth Food Summit was targeted at secondary school students across Toronto, with the goal of raising awareness about food issues affecting our local & global community.

The summit planning was divided into subcommittees (such as workshops, logistics etc). As part of the logistics committee, my main responsibilities were to plan the schedule for the summit, allocate use of resources, organize of third-party volunteers, allocate of budget to different workshops, and reach out to different speakers and sponsors.

I learnt that communication was key in the planning of the summit. For instance, when dealing with scheduling conflicts, it was important to communicate with all the subcommittees to reach a solution.

The summit was a great success with attendance from _ schools across the Toronto District School Board. During the day they had an opportunity to participate in four workshops: the industrial food system, gardening, cooking and activism.

The Youth Food Summit was STEP's biggest project to date. Inspired from the success of the summit, STEP is currently planning a Do-It-Yourself Summit hoping to reach out to even more students this time.

Undergraduate / Overcoming Shyness - Significant Challenge [4]

Prompt: Explain how you responded to a significant challenge that you have encountered and what you learned in the process?
(max.200 words)

The night before the first day of high school, I lay awake in my bed wondering how I would make new friends, how I would talk to people, what if the teacher asks me to read out loud in front of the class. The mere thought of talking in front of a group of people made me sick to my stomach. My shyness was a sickness.

It was that night that I decided to make a change. I told myself that I would do one thing everyday that would help me overcome my shyness. It started with smiling at a stranger while walking to school. Then, I started joining clubs that interested me. Soon I found myself interacting with people I didn't know on a daily basis. My shyness didn't define me anymore, I was no longer 'the quiet one'.

Shyness may seem like an effortless hurdle to overcome but for me it was a learning process. It wasn't something that could be accomplished in a day; in fact it took years. This journey helped me realize that nothing in life can be accomplished with a snap of fingers; one must work step-by-step towards their goals. It takes hard work, courage, and determination to accomplish goals.

It's 206 words, and I can't submit until its 200. What can I cut out?
Critique away! Thanks!!