Leadership

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dani2016

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
18
So I'm a sophomore in high school, and am having trouble of finding ways to show leadership. I play soccer for what seems to be my entire life so I can't do things such as Young Marines and I don't have any JROTC programs at my school. The only thing I can think of is I will probably be captain of my school soccer team senior year because I made varsity as a freshman, but I feel like that is not enough.

I'm also in the Habitat for Humanity club at my school and try to be as involved in that as possible so maybe senior year I will be elected to a leadership position for it.

Any advice on how I can show leadership?

Thanks
 
I was in the same position as you, I've played club soccer all my life so I was never able to do the programs that other applicants were a part of. However, I emphasized how I conducted myself as captain of my club team and talked about my experiences in a peer tutor program. I now have an appointment for the Class of 2014, so don't worry about needing a long list of leadership positions. They want quality over quantity.

PS: A great way to get leadership experience is to get involved in a peer tutor program, you will be in charge of one or more kids who trust you to help them.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the great advice. I will definitly look into peer tutoring programs, that sounds like a great idea.
And congrtulations on receiving an appointment
 
Do you belong to a church group? Any interest in running for student government? Applied for STEM? Considered applying for NASS during spring of your senior year? Involved in any clubs at school? Considered Boys'/Girls' State or Nation or the Hugh O'Biren Youth Organization (HOBY)? These all are opportunities for young people to get leadership training and experience. Choose carefully so you don't interfere with your academics - I had a youngster decide to go whole hog on activities and the bottom dropped out of his grades... not good!
Have you discussed your interest in a service academy with your guidance counselor? Keep in mind these degrees all are Bachelor of Science, so you should expect some heavy duty math, science, and technological courses at the college level. Be sure you get the appropriate high school classes to lay a strong foundation. Best wishes and congratulations on the early start.
 
My son is home schooled, so we had to be creative in sports and leadership. He was team captain and coaches assistant in his club-soccer team, but he found other ways to use his leadership abilities and to learn how to be a good leader.

My best advice is to find something you love and at which you excel and offer your services to others as a teacher (tutor) or in community service. For example, my son is an accomplished pianist. He teaches private lessons (which also means he runs his own business). He also volunteered at the local community theater as a practice pianist. Within six months they felt he had what they were looking for and hired him as the musical director and accompanist for several plays, a job which had never been held by a teenager before. (Huge responsibility and leadership experience!) In addition, as 1964BGO mentioned, he has been a leader in three church youth groups (we've lived in several states) and has played music in church since his early teens.


Planning this early is a very good thing, and I wish you all the best as you go for your dream!
 
Thank you for the info 1964BGO and momofmagik. This has really helped and I will definitly start to look into more programs. And congratulations to your son momofmagik, I have read some of your other posts and noticed that he got an appointment.
 
You can also look into local non-profits where you can take over or develop programs on your own to help them. Start a club at your school geared toward helping this particular organization and run with it. You can organize drives, get others involved, and demonstrate leadership in the organization and implementation of all aspects of these projects.
 
Dani, my son (now a 2/C) played h.s. football, and approached the middle school coach about volunteering in his off-season clinics and camps. The coach was delighted to have help, son got to create some new programs, and the kids loved having a h.s. varsity guy teaching. You might look into something like that w/ soccer.
 
There is a thread from one week ago entitled "Leadership" with a very valuable post by USNA1985. Read it!
 
1964BGO said:
Do you belong to a church group? Any interest in running for student government? Applied for STEM? Considered applying for NASS during spring of your senior year? Involved in any clubs at school? Considered Boys'/Girls' State or Nation or the Hugh O'Biren Youth Organization (HOBY)? These all are opportunities for young people to get leadership training and experience. Choose carefully so you don't interfere with your academics - I had a youngster decide to go whole hog on activities and the bottom dropped out of his grades... not good!
Have you discussed your interest in a service academy with your guidance counselor? Keep in mind these degrees all are Bachelor of Science, so you should expect some heavy duty math, science, and technological courses at the college level. Be sure you get the appropriate high school classes to lay a strong foundation. Best wishes and congratulations on the early start.
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Is participating in these programs (Boy's state, NASS, STEM, etc.) as good as having leadership positions? Reason I ask is cause for most leadership positions at my school, they are given to the most popular person or best speaker, neither of which I am, but admission to such camps isn't based on such popularity.
 
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