What are activities to do to show leadership?

lillian

5-Year Member
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Jun 14, 2013
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I don't know for sure, but I feel like I'm falling a bit short in this area. Also...what are examples of awards and accomplishment and community activities..?

Here is a list of things I have done for reference:

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*3 years cross country (1 year jv, 2 years varsity)
NOTE: My grandma is trying to force me to quit this sport next year.

*3 years track (1 year jv, 2 years varsity)
NOTE: My grandma is trying to force me to quit this sport next year.

*native american club

*1 year FBLA (treasurer)

*band since 5th grade, pep band since 7th, played in one parade, completed one year in honor band

*JROTC-I have only completed the second semester of the first year class (I was a Personnel Support Representative in my flight), however next year I am going to be the flight commander of the 4th year class

*orienteering-1 year jv (next year I am going to be the team captain, varsity, and also responsible for forming and running a middle school team)

*I volunteered at the blood drives at school through FBLA and earned about 20 hours of community service through that

*I went to a 3 day leadership camp at a college during my freshman year

*I attended a week long business camp at a college during the summer after my sophomore year-I was not an officer in my group, however, we won best overall company and best stockholder's presentation.

*I did knowledge bowl my sophomore year-according to the coach (and the scores) I was definitely one of the best on the team, but they went to state and I didn't because the coach wanted to let the seniors go.

*I did spelling team my sophomore year.
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NOTE: I am graduating high school in 2014. I am currently an incoming senior.

Is there anything I could do this summer to improve this list? I might be able to tutor and/or give music lessons.

What are examples of awards that you can get in high school? I know the National Merit Scholarship is one...but what else is there? I got a pin for my letterman's jacket for exceptional performance in US History class...I'm not sure if that counts for anything or even what to call that..
 
OK, I have to ask, why is your grandma trying to force you to quit Track and Cross Country.

One thing that would help is if you could become a captain of either of those sports.

Stay with JROTC

See if you can become the president or an officer in your native american club.

Continue being an officer in FBLA, see if you can be in charge of something like the blood drive for next year.
 
OK, I have to ask, why is your grandma trying to force you to quit Track and Cross Country.

One thing that would help is if you could become a captain of either of those sports.

Stay with JROTC

See if you can become the president or an officer in your native american club.

Continue being an officer in FBLA, see if you can be in charge of something like the blood drive for next year.

She wants me to spend more time with her...And she wants me doing more chores at home because she feels like an hour of chores after school isn't enough. And she doesn't think I'm good enough for it to matter for college (or the academy). She is not even willing to discuss it. Every time I try to bring it up and offer a solution she shuts me down... (and she's the one that has to sign the papers).

I am definitely staying in JROTC.

I don't think there are any officers in the native american club, but I believe I can make there be officers in the club next year.

I will most likely be elected FBLA president next year. In that case, I'd be in charge of everything.
 
Will organizing teams for events like Relay for Life help a lot? I am going to try to do that a few times this summer.
 
There's no one formula to a good application. Any sort of leadership position or volunteer work will look great.

On a side note, I'm a little confused about the running thing. You make your grandma seem a little unruly. Maybe you can try to be a team captain for one of those sports for your senior year. You don't necessarily need to be the fastest to be team captain (unless your school is the minority), and that would look good on your application. Explain to your grandma that you're not trying to get recruited for running (I'm assuming) but any varsity letter and team interaction will look good.
 
She wants me to spend more time with her...And she wants me doing more chores at home because she feels like an hour of chores after school isn't enough. And she doesn't think I'm good enough for it to matter for college (or the academy). She is not even willing to discuss it. Every time I try to bring it up and offer a solution she shuts me down... (and she's the one that has to sign the papers).

Even if you aren't a high scoring athlete, it definitely matters to the academies. They want to see commitment, teamwork and a competitive spirit. The vast majority of SA cadets were high school athletes, and they aren't all varsity athletes at their academies now. Having four years of athletics, especially the same athletics all those four years, is very important. It is also your opportunity to be team captain, which the SAs really want to see.

I must ask, does your grandmother know about your desire to attend the AFA? If so, how is she accepting that you will be gone? If she is having a hard time now doing without you after school, I am concerned that doing without you totally is not going to go over too well.

Nicole
 
Even if you aren't a high scoring athlete, it definitely matters to the academies. They want to see commitment, teamwork and a competitive spirit. The vast majority of SA cadets were high school athletes, and they aren't all varsity athletes at their academies now. Having four years of athletics, especially the same athletics all those four years, is very important. It is also your opportunity to be team captain, which the SAs really want to see.

I must ask, does your grandmother know about your desire to attend the AFA? If so, how is she accepting that you will be gone? If she is having a hard time now doing without you after school, I am concerned that doing without you totally is not going to go over too well.

Nicole

I've tried telling her that it shows commitment, but she just tells me that I already have band to show commitment. And she is convinced that she knows everything about service academies because my uncle got into West Point.

And she does know I am interested in the AFA...but she is absolutely not accepting that I will be gone. I don't feel like she really wants me to make it in. She's tried to mess up my grades, get me to stop taking AP classes, and reduce my participation in clubs and sports. She didn't get to see me for 10 years..and almost a year ago I abruptly switched custody after running away from an abusive living situation I had been in for those ten years..And now I don't think she wants to believe that I'm going to be leaving again. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do..
 
There's no one formula to a good application. Any sort of leadership position or volunteer work will look great.

On a side note, I'm a little confused about the running thing. You make your grandma seem a little unruly. Maybe you can try to be a team captain for one of those sports for your senior year. You don't necessarily need to be the fastest to be team captain (unless your school is the minority), and that would look good on your application. Explain to your grandma that you're not trying to get recruited for running (I'm assuming) but any varsity letter and team interaction will look good.

She doesn't want me doing a lot of sports because she wants me to spend more time with her..I've already tried to tell her that the varsity letters and leadership will look good, but she refuses to even discuss it. She said that she feels family is more important than sports and if I'm living in her house I need to be more of a part of the family..
 
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