More than Service Points by Vivian

More than Service Points by Vivian - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

To me, leadership does not necessarily mean having a title within a group, rather it is leading the group with passion, patience, and contributions. I co-founded an organization called Embrace where the objective was to create unique bracelets to be given to hospitalized children. It started from an idea and grew to an organization with over seventy committed volunteers. I wanted the members to learn that volunteering is not meant for service points, rather it is to develop oneself and at the same time being able to assist and uplift those in need.
One of my initiatives as a leader was to assign group managers to facilitate and teach other volunteers how to make the bracelets. I personally interviewed and trained each one of the group leaders in order to know their strengths when it came to group projects. By knowing their strengths, I was able to utilize their skills. For example, one of the girls that I interviewed has excellent photography skills, so her job was advertising our club through social media and flyers. Although many volunteers came in with no bracelet making experience, I made sure that every one of them was able to come out with a new skill. I spent time formulating and learning new strategies to better teach the volunteers. Each team manager was encouraging and assisted to those who were having a hard time. This was important to me, because I wanted to create an atmosphere filled with positivity and support.
To create an efficient team, I had to make sure that we were all able to unite with a common purpose. Communication is an important element for a good team’s ability to move in the right direction. By reminding the entire club of the task that was needed to be done at the beginning of every meeting, I found that we were able to work more efficiently. I scheduled team meetings in order to fix conflicts and find solutions. To me, keeping everyone informed was important to achieve our desired objectives and goals. I did this by creating a group chat, which enabled the volunteers to give me feedbacks and tell me when their schedule was filled. I made sure to be flexible when it came to school and coming to the meetings.
To me, it is important to not just be a leader but also a mentor, role model, and encourager. Not only did I watch every person grow individually, I also saw them growing as a family. As a family, we learned that the true definition of volunteerism is to uplift others and grow individually. I want to empower others to branch out and to get out of their comfort zones to help others. Whether it be monetary or as small as creating bracelets, I hope to build an organization that can create positive advisors and leaders of the world.