¶ … young age, I have not had very many chances to demonstrate my leadership skills. However, early leadership experiences can be significant shapers of character and builders of confidence. As captain of my high school varsity swim team, I was able to develop and hone my skills as a leader. I gleaned from my experience as a varsity captain some mature and adult traits like decisiveness, good humour, and compassion. Forced to practice mediation, conflict resolution, and advanced problem solving without direct training in leadership, I learned directly from my interactions with coaches and team members. I will probably always hearken back to this early leadership experience, even if subconsciously, throughout my entire life. However, I wasn't necessarily a natural-born leader. As a tenth grader in high school I worked on a science project with a group of four other students. I was selected at random to be the leader of the study group; it was the first time I can remember having to exhibit calm qualities of leadership. It proved to be a difficult experience for me and I did not fare as well as I did when I became captain of the swim team. However, I did learn from that experience and hopefully will remember that defensiveness does not bring positive results when dealing with others. With the egos and personal interests of several people at stake, it can be hard to put things in perspective. Since encountering these leadership experiences, I don't shy away from positions of power. Instead, I am able to balance my position as leader with the needs and goals of the team.

I relished the opportunity, but as time went on, I realized that being captain would be a humbling experience in many ways. Although it boosted my confidence, being captain placed me in the unfortunate position of having to mediate between the egotistical coach and the discontented students. This particular coach demanded too much from the team and acted arrogantly. The power trip was a turn-off for my teammates and most of the students wanted to quit because of it. However, I encouraged them to deal with the situation in a mature, calm manner. Not reacting to the instincts of the mass majority, which insisted on ditching the team because of this coach, I became more solution-oriented. Because swimming meant a lot to me and to the rest of the team, I was able to use humour to overcome anger. Instead of reacting to the emotions generated by the coach's overactive ego, I emboldened my teammates. Rallying in unity for our sport, the team stuck together. The students claimed that were it not for me, they definitely would have quit. Team spirit soared, not just for excelling at our sport but also for mutual support. We all ended up close friends because of this experience. I felt a great sense of personal accomplishment and healthy pride after receiving such positive feedback. The entire experience, although trying at times, ended up being one of the most rewarding times of my high school years.
My sophomore class science project did not have such a happy ending. The biology class…