A Lesson in Leadership by Carolyn

A Lesson in Leadership by Carolyn - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

I learned a valuable life lesson when circumstances forced me into an unwanted leadership position. I was on the yearbook team at the Christian Educational Consortium in 10th grade. My position at the beginning of the year was Head of Layout. I was given a team and put in charge of laying out the pictures, texts, and graphics for the pages.
As the year progressed, it became evident that the other teams were not accomplishing their goals and working on a timeline that would have completed the yearbook by the print date. The Editor was not doing her share of the work nor organizing meetings. It soon dawned on me that if I did not do something, our school would not have a yearbook. As the weeks grew closer to our deadline, I decided that the yearbook must be finished no matter how much time we had to spend getting it done. I unofficially stepped up as the Editor and worked hard to plan meetings and facilitate software training. I coordinated the writers and photographers to get their assignments turned in on time. I also got in touch with the company that published our yearbook, and arranged meetings with them.
As the person ultimately responsible for the team’s work, I stayed up many nights finishing pages to meet the deadline. My time could have been spent doing other things, but I did not give up on our yearbook.
Being in this situation truly taught me how to be a leader. Leadership was thrust upon me, and I was nervous about taking on the challenge. I learned how important it is to be committed to a project and not quit when things get difficult. I was determined to make our yearbook look great, and when it was finally completed my commitment to the project paid off. This experience was challenging but taught me a very valuable life lesson.