KC Royals Charities Scholarship Essay

One of the most important leadership positions came during my junior year and the summer before my senior year when I served in a leadership position for a project associated with the 2020 Olympics along with the post-project work. This project was very important for my junior year in 2020 leadership since it was the big project of the four years I was there and it was what all the hard work we had put in during the past years was leading up and working towards. The project aimed at making a meaningful impact in not just our school community but as well as the community surrounding our school. Through this experience, I learned valuable lessons about communication, time management, and teamwork leading to my inspiration to further my education and growth both personally and academically.
Leadership involves being responsible for directing the group while also ensuring that everyone has a voice and can express thoughts and concerns. This was a lesson I was able to learn during the 2020 Olympics project. The group originally had many different ideas about how to approach the project and end goals but there was no clear structure or process to bringing these ideas together and to life. Realizing that we needed a better sense of direction and better structure I decided to make the move to step up and take on the leadership role that no one had taken. I had to take charge of gathering and organizing the ideas, refining them, and presenting them to the group in a way that ensured understanding. This was a big responsibility because I had to commit myself to helping the team find a unified vision for where the project was going to go. My role involved a lot of communication, time management, and problem-solving. I spent a lot of time staying after school with the administration, 2020 leadership staff, and occasionally students who were willing to stay late and help. I also planned Zoom meetings, and in-person meetings and kept everyone informed about the progress that was being made making sure that everyone’s contributions were acknowledged and incorporated in the project.
One of the rewarding aspects of the experience was bringing the idea to life and presenting it to a large audience at the 2020 Olympics. This presentation was the culmination of weeks of hard work and dedication that we were able to show off to a broader audience. However, the project did not end there. To truly bring this project to life I worked during the summer putting it together as well as planning and organizing a ribbon-cutting ceremony to present the finished project to the school and community. This event was very important to me because it allowed me to see the impact that the project had on not only my school community but the local community as well.
In addition to organizing the ribbon-cutting ceremony, I also worked on making it an engaging experience for everyone involved. I brought in local community-owned businesses as well as student-owned businesses allowing them to have a space to showcase their products and give community members a chance to see the creations that they worked hard on making. I also coordinated live performances from student singers and dancers to allow a space where they could get their deserved recognition. This overall created an engaging and enjoyable experience for the public. Seeing these elements come together was very fulfilling and allowed me to see the hard work I put in come together and see the community come together because of the hard work I put in.
Through this experience, I learned important lessons about leadership that I didn’t think of before. First and foremost, I learned the importance of communication. Through the process, I had to make sure that everyone in the group was kept in the loop and that all progress was communicated so that everyone was on the same page.
I also learned how important it is for a leader to be organized and proactive. In this role, I constantly had to balance different tasks and responsibilities, from coordinating meetings to planning events I had to manage my time wisely. I had to balance my school work, home life, extracurriculars, and the project. I had to make sure that I met every deadline and that no minor detail was being overlooked. This experience showed me that being a good leader involves much more than just giving directions. It requires the willingness to put in hard work, time, and energy to focus on the end goal.
Most importantly, this project taught me the importance of collaboration. While I may have taken on a leadership role the success of the project was because of the collaboration of all group members. Everyone brought something different to the project and each person was important for the success. Although a leader leads the group, the leader is not good at everything which is why it is important to bring in all group members because everyone is good at something different which brings success to the goal. This lesson is something that I can carry with me in the future and has inspired me to seek out opportunities where I can work with others and see my hard work pay off.
This leadership experience has inspired me to further my education because it taught me the importance of collaboration, communication, and responsibility in achieving meaningful goals. By leading the project I saw the effectiveness of proper leadership and bringing ideas to life, creating a lasting impact on the community. This experience taught me valuable skills that can also be used in the workforce for working as a team and getting an end goal met. I enjoyed seeing the impact that I made in my community and how the hard work that I put into something allowed people to come together.