One of the first leadership positions I was put in was when I was in high school on the varsity rugby team. I had been on the team for three years and by the time I was a senior it was my turn to help lead the team. I had become the team leader through the work and effort put in over the years. I really enjoyed it because I got extremely close with everyone on the team, so I knew how the team clicked. What I struggled with the most was if we lost the game because I knew I had to be there for them and I couldn’t allow myself to hang my head. From this experience I learned that I really cared about my team and it taught me how a leader should be able to keep everyone’s head high.

The second time I was put into a leadership position was when I started to work for my dad. My father owns a dumpster and roll off business and there was a time where I was in charge of relaying information, taking supplies, and needed to explain the task at hand to his workers. I enjoyed it because I got a sense of authority and got to know my dad’s workers better than what I did. At first, I struggled with telling someone older than me what to do. What I learned about myself is that I had to grow that backbone to tell someone older than me what to do which also taught me proper leadership.

My current position here at VMI is being a cadre corporal and I got this position for showing the effort and the amount of work I put in to receive this position. What I enjoy the most is that I get to learn from those above me and I get to learn how different people work so I can adapt to their work style. I struggled the most in the beginning of the year because I didn’t know how to adapt to their work styles, but I learned through myself that I was able to adapt to the situation at hand. This later taught me that to be a good leader you need to be able to be able to be personable and relatable. Three goals that I would like to improve would be organization in my room area because I believe that I will be able to think clearer. I also want to make sure that I go to academic buildings more to study, and lastly, I want to be more outgoing and able to step out of my bubble more.