My Leadership Experience

Ronald Reagan once said "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." This quote embodies both my views on leadership and my methods of service. My most valued leadership role is being a captain on my varsity basketball team for the past two years. Through this position of leadership I can both mentor and serve my team in various ways. Additionally, I serve others through opportunities at my church, as well as working through a peer tutoring service at my high school. Through all of my leadership positions and service opportunities, I work not only to better myself, but to help others be the best they can be, whether it's on the court, in the classroom, or in the church.

Basketball has always been the biggest commitment in my life apart from the classroom and the church. As a result of my success and leadership qualities during my sophomore season, I was named as a captain during my junior season. This position is what taught me the definition and the importance of leadership. I learned that a leader isn't just someone who has power and tells people what to do, but a true leader works from a place of service. A true leader is someone who is always putting forth all of their effort, who is willing to take time out to make sure new players understand a drill, who is willing to stay late after practice to help the coaches clean up, and someone who maintains a positive mindset and attitude regardless of the circumstances.

As a mathematics tutor in the peer tutoring program at my high school, I have had the pleasure of working with several different students. All of these students are extremely hard-working individuals who are struggling with certain concepts, or have anxieties about asking questions during a class. My goal is first and foremost to help them master the mathematics concepts, but also to help them develop new strategies. In order to do this, I typically request that their teachers send me the packets or homework they have been assigned, along with the answer key, so that I can see how the teacher has taught them to do the work. Since there is not just one way to learn most mathematical concepts, I refresh the students on the way they had previously been taught, and then proceed to teach them new approaches to the problem. I have found that teaching them different methods has been the most successful tutoring method, as most of the students I work with understand the concepts, just not the way the teacher has instructed them. At the end of every tutoring session we discuss the methods that worked and did not work and create a plan for the next meeting. Tutoring is one of my favorite ways to serve, as its interactive and productive. Soon after I began working with my peers their test grades significantly increased–by a whole letter grade in some cases. Tutoring is extremely rewarding and rooted in service.

Lastly, I have had the honor of being able to both lead and serve in my church. As one of the oldest members in the youth group, I have the opportunity to not only mentor younger students, teach Sunday school, and serve on church committees, but I have had the opportunity and privilege to serve the entire congregation. Our church holds a biennial "Youth Sunday", where the youth group is in charge of choosing songs, reading scriptures, and providing the sermon. This past year, we divided the sermon between myself and another member of the youth group so that our portions were both manageable. My role as a junior captain inspired me to speak on the topic of Christian Leadership vs. Secular Leadership. I discussed my perspective on leading from a place of service, not a place of power. I believe this is what Ronald Reagan meant, and I believe throughout his life that he lead from a position of service.