Speeches / Secretary Speech - "Oh, so you want to be the typing person?" [6]

I am running for a youth NGO secretary and I need to make a max. 5 min. speech about why I want to be a secretary.

I would appreciate it very much if you guys gave me any sort of feedback.
Here is the speech:

Good afternoon! My name is ________________. I am a freshman at ______________ and I am running for secretary.

Today, on my way here I encountered an old friend of mine. We chatted for a little bit and when I told her that I was running for a secretary, she exclaimed in a rather sarcastic tone: "Oh, so you want to be the typing person?"

Her comment made me think, thus I want to tell you that the reason I am running for a secretary is much more important than simply typing. I am here today because I want our projects to be successful and I want to give my greatest contribution to have them so. I believe that I posses skills that make an effective secretary. Having held numerous leadership positing such ASB member and Class President have enhanced my communication skills, therefore I am able to respond to public inquiries and serve as an effective guide to the new members. Moreover, my experiences as Literature and Media Club secretary at _____ have helped me gain a greater insight in a secretary's job. I am able not only to keep precise record of our meeting and events, but also to keep everything orderly and accessible. Last, but not least, being an exchange student abroad as a youth ambassador of our country taught me how to be a good representative , thus I will give my best to be a righteous representative of our Board of Directors and our organization.

I believe we have great thing ahead of us and my skills will be a great asset to our Board; with me as a secretary everything will be able to run smoothly organized.

Thank you!

What do you think??

Scholarship / my curiosity and desire to learn; Scholarship/why deserve [7]

Please give me your feedback in this scholarship essay. What should I change in the content, grammar? Also, i'm not sure if scholarship essays should have titles. .?

here's the prompt: Write an essay that will convince the selection panel that you deserve the scholarship.

Help Me Make My Story Real

Ever since I was a child, I enjoyed reading books, especially fairy tales like the Sleeping Beauty. Soon though, I found out that magic wands did not exist and no one had ever met a real fairy. Most importantly, I realized that I was not a princess, so nothing would come to me by just sitting and waiting. Instead, I had to work hard to be a successful student.

During my middle school years, my curiosity and desire to learn helped me get good grades and develop a deeper understanding of the value of the education. However, during my high school, it was not so easy. Every day, I had to travel from my village, Novosellë, to the town of Gjakova, where my school was. This meant days of waking up earlier than my classmates, walking for many kilometers in all types of weather, catching the bus and then reaching the school. After school, I worked. I studied in the little time I could squeeze in between school and work. These were difficult times and I often faced money issues. That's why I began analyzing more the financial problems our society, especially young generations were facing. However, distance and work did not stop me from succeeding. On the contrary, they increased my commitment to school and helped me develop a work ethic. Furthermore, these challenging experiences and the fact that I attended classes at the Social Sciences profile of Hajdar Dushi gymnasium helped me develop an interest in economics. Later, during my senior year, after I moved to the U.S. as a Youth Exchange and Study (YES) student, I faced obstacles as well. Now I had to cope with another busy schedule and balance my time between school and many extracurricular activities. I became more flexible and more determined to succeed. Getting challenged academically seemed unlikely to happen, since foreign students are usually held back a year. Still, I enrolled in senior classes and worked successfully throughout my courses with a 4.0 GPA. At this time, I was seriously considering economics as my future career.

A month ago, I graduated. Now, shaped and with a clear vision, I am seeking a place to get fully developed. I believe AUK is the only place where I can get an education that will help me pursue my dreams. My long term goal is to start a company in Kosovo to aid the development of Kosovo. This will be possible if I continue my studies at AUK with the help of your scholarship. I am thrilled by your undergraduate courses and career programs, especially co-op, as a hands-on experience, which give me a greater insight of the business world. I believe I am the best candidate for your scholarship because my life experiences have taught me to be insightful, hardworking and determined. My unique background, my broad horizon, and my enthusiasm make me different. The obstacles I went through during my high school never held me back. In contrary, they motivated me to continue ahead to pursue my dreams. By helping me to make the education affordable, you will help not only me but also the people around me, for my aim is to make a positive change in society. I know the importance of education, and I will use the scholarship in the best way.

I still enjoy reading books, but now my favorites are true stories. Help me make my story real.

Scholarship / "Deserve to receive AUK scholarship"; Need ADVICE [2]

I need to write an essay in order to win a full scholarship in a university. All it is said in the application is this: "Prepare an essay that will convince the selection panel that you deserve to receive the scholarship for your studies at AUK."

I've never written a scholarship essay before, the prompt is very general and I don't know what should I write about-theme??
Also, should I follow a more personal approach, or should I include my school achievements/extracurricular activities(they are mentioned in a specific section, so I feel like I'll be bragging to much about my achievements/extracurricular activities if they are constantly mentioned)..

The scholarship is merit & need based, so I don't know in which one I should focus... Please if you have any ideas share them below!

Thank you!

Ever since I was a child, I enjoyed reading books - especially fairytales. Soon though I found out that the realistic part was missing: real magic wands didn't exist and no one had ever met a real fairy. Most importantly I realized that I'm not a princess, so nothing will come to me by just sitting and waiting. Instead I worked my way hard to be a successful student.

During my middle school years, my curiosity and desire to learn helped me get good grades and develop a deeper understanding in the value of education. However, it was during my high school years when things got tougher. Now I had to travel every day from my village to go to the town where my school was. This meant days of waking up earlier than my friends, walking for kilometers, no matter if it's rainy or sunny, catching the bus and then reaching the school. After school I worked, and my free time was spent studying and doing homework. However, distance and work did not stop me - they only increased my commitment and helped me develop a work ethic. Gradually, I began developing an interest in public policy and economics which got stronger later, during my year as an YES exchange student in the U.S., where I could see from closely a different approach of these fields.

All the obstacles that I went through during my high school career did not hold me back. In contrary, they motivated me to continue ahead to pursue my dreams. In the future my goal is to start my own business and work with NGOs so that I can make my contribution for a better world. This will be possible is if continue my studies at AUK with the help of your scholarship. I'm thrilled by the undergraduate course and the co-op program, which will be a great help to my goal. I believe I'm the best candidate for this scholarship because my life experiences have taught me to be hardworking, determined, and not give up easily, thus I will use the scholarship in the best ways.. I believe that with the help of your scholarship I can pursue a good, qualitative education, which not only will help me as person develop intellectually and have a career, but will also help the people around me, since my aim is to make a positive change in our society. Without the scholarship, it will only be a tale..help me add the realistic part!

Undergraduate / English class; MY SECOND LIFE/ Significant Experience [7]

This is my prompt:Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
I came up with this idea the impact English has had on my since I'm a not native-English speaker, and I need desperately your opinions on it. Any type of feedback is welcomed, and I would greatly appreciate it if you have any ideas for the title, cuz I think it's lame..

thank you!

English class. 7th grade. A middle-aged teacher writes on the board, "Speaking two languages is living two lives." Being immature at the time, I think, "Duh! Then the polyglots should be immortal!"I hated the quote. Not because I really believed what I was thinking, but because I knew that my English speaking skills were not even good enough to hold a decent conversation. Reflecting on this, I was not happy. It was then that I decided to master English.

Today, many years later, I finally have realized what being bilingual and living two lives really means. For different people, it can mean different things. For me, it meant receiving a scholarship to study abroad in the USA.

Being an exchange student was really fun. Taking funny pictures on Hollywood hills was something I had only dreamed of, and running up and down the Golden Gate Bridge was very entertaining(it can be tiring as well!). Attending an American high school, with me being a pure foreigner and being there "just for the experience" was an amusement on its own. Sharing my culture and listening to what others thought of Kosovo was very exciting. Soon, however, I realized that fun was a drop in the bucket. Moving from a small village where I had spent most of my life to California, the most diverse state in the country, was quite a challenge. I had to move back to square one: adjust to a completely new environment, live with strangers, not to add that I missed my friends and family. But I could speak English at a decent level, and this is exactly where my second life began.

Gradually, I started to make more friends and become more integrated into my host family. I started to think under the "It's not better, not worse, just different" philosophy.If before I would ignore people who had a different hairstyle, or were wearing 'weird' clothes, now I started to interact and get to know them. I began approaching things differently and confronting challenges without a familiar support network.As a result, I could make my own decisions and solve my own problems.I realized the need to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. For example I never did sports before because I didn't see myself as an athletic person. But I decided to try swim, and to my surprise, I found out that I could do more than I thought I could. It's true that still I am not the most athletic person one would meet, but finishing the season successfully helped me understand that nothing is impossible. Experiencing different things, soon, I could see a more confident me. I felt more comfortable talking to strangers, gained a broader general knowledge, and exercised more independence. Learning English gave me the opportunity to experience new things I could never have experienced if I had spoken only one language. It also helped me develop interests in learning other languages. I began to see the world as a smaller place, and I began to appreciate more other cultures as well as my own.

The year I spent in the US tremendously impacted my life.Not only have I become an independent thinker and a person who is more open to new ideas, but I have also explored new cultures in ways I never had before. Speaking a new language helped me to truly live my second life--a life in a year--through my experience as an exchange student.