Royals Essay 25

Traditional leadership has never been my forte. My voice doesn’t project, my presence isn’t strong, and I don’t like speaking a lot. The thing about leadership is, it isn’t one dimensional. A leader isn’t one archetype but many. A lot of the best leaders were ones who let their actions speak for them, for example Messi. Messi is one of the greatest leaders within soccer even though he is a reserved man who doesn’t like talking to his fans a lot. He is still a good leader who led his team to win the World Cup.
For me, my leadership shines through my favorite sport, boxing. Boxing is a sport of discipline and growth, without either the other cannot be achieved. Boxing does shape the way you approach life. It creates a more focused outlook. Through boxing I found motivation, to not only box, but to teach others.
Teaching not only yourself but your partner too, is a huge part of boxing. Everytime you spar with your opponent you are teaching the opponent a lesson on what to do and not to do. Every opening they give you is your responsibility to capitalize on to show them their mistake, and of course it’s their job to do the same. This isn’t the only way of teaching though as I also worked with newbie fighters, with newbies you mostly work on defense while they try throwing everything. While in the process, you expect to tell them their mistake out loud, so they can start giving you something to work with. I’ve taught many newbies to use their height, power, and movement to their advantage within the ring against me. As well as sparring I’ve trained some of the younger fighters, mostly giving them drills to do and giving them motivation or remarks on what they did wrong.
Over time, I’ve learned that boxing isn’t a solo sport but one you teach to others as much as you do to yourself. This has taught me the importance of the idea in life, that nothing you do will be by yourself. You may think boxing is a lonely sport where you rely on yourself, but the truth is boxing cannot be taught without the discipline of everyone in the gym. Every time your partner shows up he motivates you to do the same, everytime your coach shows up he brings the lessons that you require to better yourself as a boxer. Boxing is as much a solo sport as a team sport. Boxing being a team sport made me realize that nothing in life is done by yourself, everyday you’re alive is because someone created the vaccines and medicine that made it possible for you to survive. Everytime you drive your car to work it is because of the work of factory workers that worked together to assemble the car. To quote Bertolt Brecht’s 1935 poem “Questions from a Worker Who Reads“-
The young Alexander conquered India.
Was he alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Did he not have even a cook with him? …
Every page is a victory.
Who cooked the feast for the victors?”
Everything you do in life is because of the contribution of another person, everything done in life is a creation of teamwork whether they were in the same room when it happened, or they lived 200 years from each other, they worked together to contribute to its creation.
Before boxing, I’m not gonna lie, I did not truly care about my education. I was doing my school work because my parents told me to do so, not because I had a vision. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. Living aimlessly can feel tiresome. I felt this way for a while. I thought going to college would just be working tirelessly for another man’s dream. When I started boxing though I felt purpose in sparring with others. Everyday fighting and training with others placed purpose in my life, the struggle was the best part of the journey. It opened my eyes on how struggling with others can be the best part of life.
That made me paint hard work in a new light, if you truly love what you’re doing, it won’t feel like hard work. This opened my eyes to new opportunities. I found myself drawn to engineering fields that I would’ve put off earlier as too hard but now seemed interesting. One field in particular stuck out to me the most, was architecture. I was always fascinated by the architecture of cities, how they can paint a story from their unique qualities and history. The beauty of architecture is it’s a combination of engineering, science, and art, that makes it so important. Studies show that the architecture affects how the people within the city treat it, that if you live in a well designed neighborhood you’re more likely to care for and protect the neighborhood. This ties into how it takes a collective effort to create something. To create a good neighborhood, it takes the work of the architect, engineer, indoor designer, and a community to make a truly prosperous neighborhood. I realize now that working as an architect isn’t working for someone else, but leading a neighborhood/business into the realm of greater opportunities by design.
Boxing isn’t a traditional leadership activity, but it taught me something important, leadership never looks the same. Everyone is a leader in their own capacity, it’s where you choose to be one that is different. I hope to continue boxing while in college, and balance the work life of an architecture major. I want to be a leader, not one you see everyday, but one you rely on without knowing, both in boxing, and architecture.
That’s why I ask as a visionary leader for the chance of consideration for this scholarship, as it would mean the world to me not having to deal with the financial burden of chasing your dreams.