What Lies Under the Surface by Julia

What Lies Under the Surface by Julia - January 2024 Scholarship Essay

Tears. Not tears of joy but of sadness and hurt. As a swim instructor, I was used to dealing with all kinds of situations involving kids. But when I heard one of my students crying, I knew I had to act quickly.
Let's call her Isabella —a second-grade girl known around camp as the "challenging, hard-to-manage" type. I didn't know who Isabella was or what she looked like.
As I looked at my group assignment for the second-grade girls, I saw Isabella’s name on my roster. While I felt slightly nervous, I decided to remain optimistic. After all, everyone deserves a chance. I aimed to show Isabella some empathy and help unlock her potential to change people's perceptions of her.
In the first week, I took the time to assess each child's skills and how they interacted with one another. The encounter with Isabella and her group unveiled a telling picture. A tight-knit bunch of girls existed, leaving Isabella on the fringes, eagerly trying to participate. She craved recognition not only from the other girls but also from the adults around her. It became clear that her disruptive behavior was a cry for connection, a desperate attempt to be included.
Recognizing Isabella's need for relationships, I made it my daily practice to invite her into activities and provide her with companionship when she was alone. This commitment became crucial to my role as her swim instructor and fostered a trusted bond between us. I started to see a positive change in her confidence.
One day, while teaching my group a lesson, I suddenly heard Isabella scream. I quickly exited the pool and turned my attention to Isabella, who seemed visibly shaken. Wrapping a towel around her, I guided her to a seat and examined her injured foot, now a painful, swollen black and blue. I escorted her to the medical office, doing my best to make her smile by telling her silly stories with hopes of distracting her from her pain. I held her hand as the nurse examined her injury and cleaned her wound. I could tell she had appreciated me by her side. We walked back to find the rest of the team, where they welcomed her with open arms.
On the last day of camp, Isabella's mother came to me to share her daughter's experience. She thanked me. Isabella had gone from fear of leaving her home to becoming excited to wake up each morning to see her newfound friends. She felt like she was finally in an emotionally safe place. The child who once had an established negative perception among the staff had reinvented herself because someone had taken a moment to understand her story. The truth is, Isabella helped me in ways she could never know. Helping her grow in such a meaningful way was the most rewarding part of that summer.
This experience taught me much about myself and the kind of leader I aspire to be. Being a leader isn't just about making profitable decisions, but also understanding the importance of positive human connection and working together. Providing equal treatment and offering appropriate assistance played a key role in my success. In Isabella's case, she finally felt part of the team, while the other girls weren't made to feel like villains. They were able to find the positives within each other and turned a bad experience into a growth opportunity.