Work

Although I gained an enormous amount of knowledge and skills from the courses that attributed to this program, I also gained experience while having a job. For about two and a half years, I worked at a local catholic school with children of ages 3 to 13. Working with this group was a bit difficult because the school did not believe in any forms of discipline, so the children had little reason to listen to their aftercare leader. Though these were difficult situations to be in, it taught me how to respond to each child according to their personality and behavior. For example, I would tell a class to line up after gym time. While 65% of the class would line up, the others would still play. I would have to personalize strategies for each child to listen. Every strategy did not work with every child especially if they do not respect authority. This is a skill that is needed for the career field I plan to enter. Each person has a different mind thus I have to use different strategies to reach them. I am grateful for each difficult situation I go through because I learn from them.

First Exposure

My first exposure to my leader skills was during my last two years of high school. During this time, I was able to be voted the captain of the cheerleading team. This was my first opportunity to lead a team full of girls that were my age. Initially it was nerve wreaking because I did not think they would listen to me because I was their age. But just by being a good example, they started to respect and listen to me. That was one of the first lessons I learned being a leader: that you cannot control if people listen to you, all you can do is be an good example, show them you have their best interest and lead to the best of your ability and most people will eventually follow. After my high school career was over, I carried the learned leadership skills and this caused me to naturally lead different aspects like group projects, my coworkers, my bible study organization and much more. This program caused me to think about all the leadership skills that I have and how I can implement them which helps me effectively use them.