As a camp volunteer, I had the opportunity to be both part of a team and to be a leader. I first volunteered as a kitchen helper, where I learned the importance of working together as a team and building relationships. I had a summer class that required me to do a lot of work, and I relied on my fellow helpers to do some of my work at night so that I could study. I learned the importance of not only being a part of a group, but on relying on others. I built relationships with the other workers by being cheerful and helpful during the time that I was free, so that they didn't have a problem with me leaving early at night because they knew that I worked hard when I was available.

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As a camp counselor, I had the opportunity to be a leader of a team. I had to learn how to adapt my leadership style to each one of the children that I was leading: sometimes I had to be uplifting and encouraging and other times I had to be authoritative. Although my leadership style changed for each student, I always tried to be authentic while leading. By being myself and helping the kids to be themselves, I was able to form relationships with the kids. Leading a team taught me how to manage different personalities and assemble them to accomplish our common goal of unity as a team.

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Being a camp counselor allowed me to have confidence as a leader of a large group of people and adapt my leadership style to fit individuals: this will be helpful to me in my future, as being comfortable in front of large groups of people is common in most jobs.

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I wrote a short reflection on what I learned as a leader through my interaction with one particular child:

The Importance of Connecting.pdf