PERSONAL VISION: LEADERSHIP
Samantha Myers
Bump/ FS 301
The skills needed to display good leadership potential all rally around a single concept of excellence that helps to achieve a greater vision. These skills allow for the acknowledgment of an individual as a leader that wants to pursue excellence. A leader guides, seeks potential, participates, and recognizes the unusual talents of others. In the past I have shown leadership skills, seen them in celebrities, and experienced them in my local surroundings. The leadership skills that I have shown throughout my life envelop all of the work that I have done including community service, being in charge of the class finances, and being one of the best in diving. In the future I hope further to present these qualities of a leader in respect to the university and to my career. I will prove that I have the prospective qualities of changing the world and succeeding in the marine biology community as well as beginning a productive and meaningful organization. The potential to be a leader lies in everyone, but it takes a certain type of person to bring that potential out. One must possess respect to competition, to friendship, and to knowledge to be recognized as a leader. In order to succeed at leadership, one must pursue excellence in all of these traits. In the future I hope to be an environmental leader and organize a group whose goal is the preservation of the marine habitats around the world.
In the past, I have exhibited leadership roles. First, I was senior class treasurer and in charge of raising money for prom and scholarships as well as a speaker at graduation. This challenging leadership role taught me how to deal with different types of people from stubborn to ignorant and how to balance many different activities at once including school work, diving, fundraisers and other class projects. While I found this job time consuming, I loved the responsibility. I felt as if I had a higher purpose, and was actually helping out other people. I, along with four other officers, was able to organize a large-scale event, prom. It was held at a brand-new hotel with a decorator, amazing decorations, and an awesome DJ. The most challenging part of being a part of this organization, during fundraisers, was sorting the money which was used for prom and academic scholarships for our class. In high school, it seemed every day I was in the sponsor’s room during advisory and after hours counting cash to be turned into the bank that day. However, all the work paid off, and in two years we were able to raise almost eighty-thousand dollars.
Class officers and sponsor at stadium clean-up
fundraiser 2006 1
I draw upon other leaders, but none so profoundly as my principal, Mrs. Schaller. She oversaw everything that the class officers were in charge of. While she was strict with some of our events, she soon came to be one of our friends. Of all the responsibilities I had as class treasurer, the most nerve-racking experience was giving the benediction at graduation. I, however, calmed my nerves when Mrs. Schaller gave me a
few tips on how to keep my cool on stage. Standing in front of six-hundred of my peers and nearly two thousand of their friends and family made my heart almost stop. But with the encouragement from my principal I gave an unforgettable speech. This remarkable woman was a teacher for thirty years before becoming a principal and exhibits all of the qualities that are found in a leader, including perseverance, intelligence, and kindness. She taught me to have patience with others and always to concentrate, even when everything seems to be going wrong.
Class President, Meredith; Principal, Mrs. Schaller, and
me at the end-of-year
teacher appreciation breakfast. 2
Another leadership role I had involved getting along with others: as district diving team captain I was put in charge of three 5A high schools’ varsity springboard diving teams. I was the person divers went to when meets were coming up and when sheets needed to be filled out. Sheets are a list of dives that the scorers use in order to keep track of the dives competed and the scores for each of them. Prior to each meet, each diver must fill out a sheet with the order of dives that they will be competing. I tried to be the type of person my divers could come to if they had a problem, like one of my teammates, Johnny. By being approachable, I allowed my fellow divers to be more comfortable
around me, around each other, and at competitions. Towards the end of the season Johnny came up to me with a concern about his dad coming into town to watch his diving. He was nervous and wanted to make his dad proud since he hadn’t seen him in three years. I reminded him that he was a talented diver, that his dad should be proud of him regardless of his performance, and that he would be proud of all of his accomplishments. Johnny seemingly took this to heart and posted
his highest score of the year, ending up in fourth place; showing me that by being easy to talk to, honest, encouraging, and using my intuition I could help another person emotionally and mentally.
So far during my
college experience, I find myself on “a road… monotonous, dusty, with brown
crackling hedges on either side”3 where I am confined to one path
which limits my leadership intentions. To be involved, I will have to be a part
of an organization that caters to what I love, and also that offers a variety
of ways to help the local
So far the organization best suited to the type of work I would like to participate in is the Texas Darlin’s. They are a community service organization that works primarily
to improve human life. Their main services include Habitat for Humanity, Race for the Cure, and various other opportunities to help children in schools, sports, and hospitals. Ultimately I would like to start a nationwide, if not world-wide, organization that helps protect marine wildlife through the education of the public.
Darlin’s Logo 4
Along with experience
in service I would get with the Darlin’s, already I am on my way to educating
individuals on environmental issues with the start of an undergraduate degree
in marine biology. Here at the
Eventually I would like to move on to get a
graduate degree from Stanford or
are easy to conceptualize, it is difficult for me to recognize what is needed to accomplish and visualize these goals of educating others.
With the degrees I get, I would like to find myself in a job that is helps protect marine life. Hopefully, I would work for an oil company or a fishery as a consultant for environmental law. I would advise on what is healthy or not for marine life in a particular area. With a graduate degree in marine biology, I would get a well respected position in which I could make an active difference in the way the environment is viewed and treated. This job would allow me to exhibit my leadership skills and ideologies that show through in my passion to be the best and to protect the environment. The field work that I would be involved with would give me credibility for beginning this organization. When I decide to start an organization it would probably be based on some research that I have done myself.
By being creative and having unique fundraisers, environmental activities, and policy changes, we can get individuals involved. We, as a group can start at a local level to change the social views of the public on environmental issues. Conservation and actions to protect life are a product of “exclusive thinking [where] creativity is a heightened form of focus and energy, a condition of deep involvement with whatever you’re doing,”5 which will lead individuals to new positive attitudes about the environment in who want to be productive in the preservation of the environment and its ecosystems.
To involve others, I would appeal to a variety of people who are interested in the
environment, conservation, and marine life. Mainly these people would include college students, possibly going down to the high school level, as well as people in careers involved with habitat protection. An organization, however, cannot exist unless it has enough funding. For operations, I would try to get government funding, or funding from a University or company. By mentioning the positive effects of protecting the environment, like improving the economy through recovered fisheries, finding alternatives to CO2 emissions, and on the whole keeping the environment cleaner and safer, I would attempt to persuade these groups to donate their money to a cause worth sponsoring.
I could increase the organization’s prestige by holding seminars, clean-up activities, and various fundraisers to get communities involved. To keep members involved and to recruit new members, a spread of the organization by current members would be created by a word-of-mouth. This would be best along with advertising and education of the public. By using charisma and care for the environment, I hope to get people interested in conserving marine habitats around the world.
Overall, I know that I exhibit the skills and qualities a leader needs to have in order to make a significant change in the lives of others from my past experiences as team captain and treasurer. The “potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good,”6 and this potential lying in me will be acquired in
the future through the education I
get at the
degree. The organization started will be able to convince the public and, in time, the government to change its current lackluster position on the protection of the marine environment.
1.
Author’s Personal Photo. Taken by Fenny Jie. October 2005.
2.
Author’s Personal Photo. Taken by Kathy Brooks. May. 2006.
3.
E.M. Forester, The Other Side of the Hedge. In Explore
4.
5.
Robert J. Lee, Discovering the Leader in you a guide to realizing your personal
leadership potential. San Fransisco,
6. Brian Tracy, http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/potential-quotes.html
Old Word Count: 1,459
New Word Count: 1,771
Added Words: 363
Omitted Words: 51
Bibliography:
Forester, E.M. The Other Side of the Hedge. In Explore Texas 1, edited by Jerome Bump, 650. 2006
Lee, Robert J. Discovering the Leader in you a guide to
realizing your personal leadership potential. San Fransisco,
Tracy, Brian. http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/potential-quotes.html
Unknown.
Author’s Personal Photo. Taken by Fenny Jie. October 2005.
Author’s Personal Photo. Taken by Kathy Brooks. May. 2006.