FSU- leadership, learning, service, and global awareness. Which of these characteristics appeal most to you and why?
There has always been one very important hour of the week that my mom and I never made any plans other than to stay home, Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. We even had a routine where fifteen minutes beforehand I would go grab a huge blanket from the closet while she whipped up a bowl of fresh popcorn. Whats all the fuss about (you must be wondering)? "Gilmore Girls" of course. A realistic comedy centering around the close relationship between a thirty year old single mother and her teen daughter. The daughter, Rory Gilmore, was a diffident, yet beautiful, study-holic, who made perfect grades and was a leader at her school. From the moment I fell in love with the show, I always compared myself to Rory, and dreamed of following in her footsteps, which essentially led me to set an important goal; to be a leader, just like her.
I started out freshman year running for class president. Ten t-shirts, at least a hundred posters, and three batches of cookies later, I was defeated, but on the positive side, I learned an important lesson ;that leadership can't be bought. My next attempt was a little bigger, running for president of Key Club, one of the most popular clubs at my high school. This time, I went a lot further than baked goods and flashy signs. In fact, I skipped all that entirely and instead focused on a speech that would tell my classmates all my ideas for meaningful community service projects I would set into motion if honored with their vote. Hours of research, memorization, and one speech later, I earned the title of Vice President, and got to initiate my ideas the following year. I learned another important lesson that day, leadership isn't handed to you based on your ideas, it's based on your actions, and you have to work hard for it. So at that point, I earned a position in my school, but it wasn't as big as it could have been. I thought to myself, ''Would Rory Gilmore be content with being just a Vice President?" Probably not. She would keep going, therefore, so would I.
I found my perfect opportunity junior year when I was inducted into the National Honor Society. I looked up at the current president, standing at his podium, commanding the attention of the entire room, and that's when I realized that I belonged there, but first I would have to prove to my classmates that I could be a strong leader. My first idea was that the National Honor Society should be tutoring the elementary school students across the street, which led to my creation of the Plantation Key Elementary School Math Tutoring Program. Then, when the National Honor Society needed ideas for fund raising, I researched every local event going on within the following six months, contacted the individuals in charge, and organized ways for the society to sell food and beverages at certain events that hadn't already hired a caterer. My peers observed my initiative and in the end, when elections took place, I was rewarded the title of President of the National Honor Society.
Leadership is definitely a characteristic that appeals most to me, but it also took years of learning in order to eventually accomplish my goal. And with my new found authority, I'm able to implement lots of service activities that truly make a difference in my community, such as the Anne's Beach Clean Up. Now, my question is "Would Rory Gilmore be satisfied with President of the National Honor Society? Or would she go further to be a leader in college, and eventually the real world?" I'm sure she would, therefore, so will I.
There has always been one very important hour of the week, during which my mom and I never made any plans other than to stay home, Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.
A realistic comedy centered around the close relationship between a thirty year old single mother and her teen daughter.
...I was defeated, but on the positive side, I learned an important lesson; t hat leadership can't be bought.
In fact, I skipped all that entirely, and instead focused on a speech that would tell my classmates all my ideas for meaningful community service projects I would set into motion if honored with their votes .
Then, when the National Honor Society needed ideas for fund raising, I researched every local event going on during the following six months, contacted the individuals in charge, and organized ways for the society to sell food and beverages at certain events that hadn't already hired a caterer.
:)
