Personal Narrative: How The Gameboy Changed My Life

Since childhood, I had a chance to develop my leadership and organizational skills through sports and had my school team win many competitions. My school is one of the places where my leadership qualities are valued as I often become a head of many activities, such as staging plays, organizing shows and school trips with my teachers. Being a leader gives me the opportunity to work in a team and consider my peers’ ideas to make our plans creative and enjoyable for everyone. My personal traits help me to gain trust and respect of my peers as they believe me to be a positive, open-minded and reliable person. I have learned to solve problems and conflicts thanks to this great experience of leadership, and I am always ready to assist my peers when it is

Leadership has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have always found myself taking on leadership roles, whether it be by volunteering or coordinating different projects for the benefit of my school or community. Taking on leadership positions has allowed me to develop skills in communication, delegation, and managing multiple tasks and deadlines. As a member of National Honor Society and an officer of Student Council, I am presented with various opportunities to show my leadership skills. For example, I have been in charge of planning multiple pep assemblies for my school. Helping coordinate blood and canned food drives, angel trees, as well as organize an abundance of fundraising events has created a sense of reliability

For as long as I can remember, I have always volunteered to lead in all of my classes. For example, I lead the yearbook Instagram account which requires a lot of effort and responsibility, but I am committed and never forget to post the photo of the week or spirit day photos. I also raise my hand anytime a teacher asks for a group leader for a project, activity, etc. All throughout elementary school, I took every opportunity I had to be a part of student council. In fifth grade, I got to be the historian. I have lots of experience leading the school with the responsibility of being the historian. Although that is nothing compared to the hard work ASB puts into our school every day, I do have experience being a leader in other ways such as former student council and at

I had always wanted to program, not just anything. I wanted to program video games. Not just any video game. I wanted to to program the greatest game ever made.

My personal experiences of leadership started when I was younger, roughly 7 years old, I was elected the captain of my travel soccer team. At the time I didn’t think much of it, nor did I have any extra duties that I was explicitly told that I needed to perform. Later throughout the season, I started to notice my teammates mimicking my styles and techniques and I highly enjoyed this feeling of being looked up to. I didn 't realize until years after that the recognition and pride I felt was leadership. This privilege of being captain was the first time I had realized that people weren 't necessarily following my actions because I was extraordinarily skilled, but because I provided this role model status with my confidence and encouragement. Some of the most valuable leaderships traits that I acquired and fortified are:

This has kept me out of many of the elected leadership positions in our school. However, there are many other ways that I exemplify my role as a leader. One of these ways is by being a part of athletics. I have always felt like a leader in this environment, as I have always exceeded at sports. As an underclassman, I would be the one who helped out with cleaning up, and pushed my teammates to get better. Being apart of these smaller groups allows me to feel more comfortable when leading others. I also lead the team to getting better by helping to set up practices when the coaches were not allowed to coach in the off season. This made me a better leader in everyday life as I am now a more active leader. I lead in group projects, telling people what needs to be done and when. I make sure people are on track, and do not act out. Despite not being a leader to the many, I have still been able to make a big difference by being a leader in my everyday life as an athlete and a

Trying to find balance between those two, maintaining my ability to perform and lead others, and effectively getting things done was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in life. Having the pressure put on myself daily gave me insight into the future. Through the small productive task the band was taking daily I could see problem spots or potential unproductive actions quickly and maintain progress. At home, when practice was over, I would research, study, and read all about leadership skills as well as personal relations. I learned from many of peers that a leader even with great skill will accomplish nothing if they don’t learn to respect, inspire, and influence those around them. Having the built reference experiences and seeing many different approaches of leadership I cherished every single principal I was able to learn. In the end, I did not become the perfect leader or the leader with the most talent, but I was able to empower my peers to push through the pain of the season and influence them to stick to the repetition need to build a great skill. The band finished third place overall becoming bronze medalist in Class 5A but won first place in the music category. This is the best the band has ever been and the highest place the band has finished in. My hopes and dreams for the members in band after this year is to continue to grow and perform to the best of their ability. I valued everything I was able to take

I occupy my time in clubs and activities that both captivate my interest and are most important for my peers and me. These include but are not limited to my positions in Link Crew, Student Council, and Senior Board. They range from Senior Class Representative to Vice President. Many of my teachers and mentors have identified a characteristic of mine as a great leader, and I wanted to improve on these skills. I don't dominate discussion or action, I simply guide it. I take all of my positions seriously and always bring my best attitude; my leadership methods distinguish me from other

2. What leadership qualifications do you have? I believe the becoming a leader would enable me to use my “people skills” in order to bring some level of success to the band. I find myself to have the ability to inspire others to do their best to and the charisma to encourage my fellow classmates to come to me for help.

Ever since my first year of marching band, the field commanders have been people to look up to and take example from. They are the student leaders of the band, and always did their best to help when someone needed it. After four years in band, I feel that I am ready to take on a leadership role. I have experience working with and helping new members, I have recognition from my peers as a leader, and I am excited to put to use the qualities and skills that I have learned in band.

When I first joined the band, I was a quiet, emotionless guy. I didn’t have any close friends in the band either, so honestly, I wasn’t having the best time. The people around me always seemed so happy to talk to others, and it confused me in a way. But then when band camp rolled around, people started to talk to me, so naturally, I began to respond to them, and eventually I began to start conversations for myself. I was a whole lot less awkward as days turned into months, my stuttering was reduced to almost none, I'm pretty loud, and I'm pretty friendly too.

“What do I have to do to earn a [Nintendo] DS?” asked my third-grade self.  My mother replied with, “You don’t need one—why do you want one?” My reason was very convincing: “Everyone else had one.” We then had a discussion about having fun and fitting in. I agreed with her because I did genuinely understand that playing on a DS or any game was not the only way have fun and spend time and that I could fit in even if I didn’t have one.

July 9th, 2004, my fourth birthday, marks the day my mother and father were married. I didn't quite understand the meaning of marriage, in fact the only thing i cared about at the time was what could be in the box i was given. Almost instantly i begin opening the present; wrapping paper flying everywhere, i finally saw what it was. A Super Nintendo. Prior to this day i have never even touched a video game controller, mostly because we never had one due to our lack of money, so this was a huge experience for me despite it being an older console. The entire rest of that day was spent learning and playing the new system i had received; since then I found that everyday I would play my system for hours on end just to become better at the games. About four years later I was

I am a born leader. Even when I am not looking for leadership opportunities they always seem to fall into my lap. My life has been one that is based on service to others, so I regularly volunteer for committees and extend myself to help others. It is important to me to be the best teacher I can, I regularly attend professional development sessions and implement my new learning in the classroom. However, upon starting the Teacher Leadership Master’s program at Lamar University, I was just beginning my career as a teacher leader. I had not had many opportunities to show leadership outside of my grade-level team. During team planning meetings, I normally directed the discussions. My coworkers looked to me for guidance and interpretation of the curriculum. I regularly made suggestions about teaching strategies. Additionally, I was a member of various campus committees including the Campus Performance Objective Committee (CPOC) where worked together with campus administrators and community partners to develop the Campus Improvement Plan. However, I did not view these tasks as leadership opportunities.

Determination, courage, and confidence are all characteristics needed to be a good leader. The principal player in a music group is considered to be a leader. Even bands need leaders, if we didn’t have leaders where would we be today? John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” A good leader is liked by the people, has power, and produces followers. When there is an unwillingness to make things happen, to take the initiative and accept responsibility; this is when a leader emerges. Leaders develop through drive, creativity, and devotion.