Nicholas Raasch National Honor Society

A truly great leader is made, not born. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. In order to inspire others to achieve a higher level in whatever they attempt, there are certain things you must know how to do effectively. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual hard work and devoted study. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, believes that, to lead, a person must be able to enact the following: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more; you are a leader. In the school and in the community, I inspire my peers to strive to achieve all of these actions; this illustrates how I have developed the qualities of a strong leader. Good leaders are constantly working and studying to improve their leadership skills, and in accordance with this statement I will always take the opportunity to lead. I have taken this opportunity during the Student Council organized cleaning of a stretch of highway, during the NIC-10 Council on leadership, and in the halls of Hononegah where a leader is often desperately needed. As a member of the juniors Student Council, it is our responsibility to remove garbage from the side of the highway one time while the weather is favorable, so on a particularly warm day we did just that. However, as we prowled the side of the highway in search of garbage, the temperature began to rise dramatically. Nearly halfway down the stretch of highway, complaints began to fly from all directions as student council members felt the hot sun beating down on them. Almost immediately following the complaints, the idea of turning around and heading back to the cooling solace of our air conditioned cars surfaced. A few groups began to turn back, but as some of my group members began to turn I held them up. Look guys, were more than halfway finished with this already, and I dont know about all of you but Im going all the way to the end, I said as I walked past them and continued to collect trash from the ground. After moving a little ways down the road, I heard the crunch of gravel behind me getting louder and I looked up to see my original group plus a few extra people had come to help me finish the job. By refusing to give up on the task at hand, I motivated my peers to accomplish what we had set out to do, and I opened their eyes to the importance of never leaving something unfinished. In my opinion, a job should never be left half finished. In this situation, I inspired my fellow students to do more than they had the drive to do of their own accord. This is a characteristic of a leader, and a testimony to my leadership qualities.

Nicholas Raasch National Honor Society

Earlier this school year, I was nominated to attend a meeting at Giovannis composed of 15 leaders selected from every school in the NIC-10 Conference. This meeting consisted of a brilliant speaker who not only explained in detail what about my personality made me more prone to holding a position of leadership, but also had us engage in team-building activities that required one person to take charge of the rest of the group and direct, or to share the leadership equally. This deviated depending on the activities, which varied from working one on one with another student to separate each other while each of us held one end of two strings that formed an X in between us (I hope this concept can be understood without a physical example), or simply having to build the tallest structure out of nothing but plastic straws, their wrappers, and two pieces of tape. My partner and I were successful in separating ourselves from one another, which many groups found impossible, and although my team did not build the highest structure we competed closely with the other groups and worked well together. This, I believe is one of the most important parts of being a leader; knowing when not to take command and boss your peers around, and when to allow your entire team, group, etc. to share the leadership in order to more effectively achieve a goal. Being a leader is important; however I find that my ability to be a part of a team is equally demonstrative of my leadership qualities More often than not, the true ability of a leader is seen not in his actions while holding an elected or nominated leadership position, but in his actions during normal, everyday interactions with his peers. In the halls of Hononegah and in the surrounding community, I refuse to tolerate deplorable actions, most commonly bullying. I will admit that to my knowledge Hononegah is a relatively safe place for its students and that I have never seen an exceedingly cruel, unnecessary case of bullying. Despite this, it is still important to stand up for those who may not have the courage or force of will to stand up for themselves. I do so whenever the opportunity presents itself, and am often the moral compass amongst my group of friends who from time to time find humor in cracking jokes at the expense of other. A true leader does not fall in line with his friends, especially when he believes what they are doing is wrong. As a leader I know that it is vital to stop them and say, Guys, knock it off, that kid does not deserve to be picked on just because you dont like (for example) the way he dresses. I believe firmly that everyone is entitled to live their lives the way that they wish to, and in saying a simple statement like this you not only stand out amongst your friends, you also gain their respect. A true leader will drive people to become more, and over the years many of my friends have become much more

Nicholas Raasch National Honor Society

benevolent people. I am very proud of this, and I believe that this is the single most important ethic to be held by a teenage leader. You mustnt adopt your friends ways of thinking; by staying true to your values and being a leader in situations such as the one above, you will be respected as a friend and show your capability of leading, which I have done countless times throughout my high school career. In closing, I hope that my abilities as a leader have become apparent through my actions. A true leader will never leave a job half-finished, will realize when to step forward and lead or when to stand strong as a part of a team, and will stay true to his values and be a leader in morality as well as a leader in accomplishing a goal. I possess all of these qualities and will continue to exercise and expand upon them as I gain more significant leadership positions in life. I hope that you will strongly consider accepting me into the National Honor Society, because I fit the criteria as an involved, intelligent, and more than capable leader. Thank you for the opportunity to have this application considered, and I hope that you find my qualifications satisfactory.