The term captain is synonymous with the term leader. By definition, a leader is someone who is in an advanced position to take the initiative in order to go forth and show the way. A dance captain should be able to make intelligent and creative decisions quickly and efficiently. Dance teams are all about unity. An exceptional group glides across the floor with all of its dancers moving as one. There are no individual standouts. No weak links. But there is one person whose job is to make the team as strong as possible, on the floor and off. It’s one thing to be a good team player, but it's another to be a good captain. Few will have the opportunity to feel the weight of the responsibilities and the happiness of knowing you're making a difference. Being captain of any type of organization in my eyes is a huge job. It’s teaching respect by showing respect. It’s helping 11 girls, including myself, strive and push themselves to be the best dancers I know we all can be. Having the title of captain doesn’t mean being the boss of everyone, being in the front in every dance, or just thinking that the captain should come before everyone else. Captains are the inspiration of the team. They’re the person that everyone on the team looks up too. Being a natural born leader is also a big role of dance team. That means having self-confidence, good communication skills, courage, clear desire to make progress towards a goal, and a fair degree of understanding your fellow teammates. Being a captain requires you to focus on the big picture, doing what’s best for your team even on your worst days. If you’re negative, the team will take on the same attitude, even if everyone else has had a great day. As captain of your dance team, you’ll definitely encounter some sticky situations, like having to confront your friends when they aren’t practicing full-out or telling an injured teammate that she’ll have to sit out a performance. But it’s…
In high school, I was involved multiple clubs and groups varying from athletic, academic, and artistic. Overall, the school’s marching band color guard had the largest influence on my personal growth in during the time. At my school, all color guard members are required to complete one season of marching and playing instruments with the band before being allowed to join the guard. Therefore, it wasn’t until my sophomore year that I auditioned and was accepted into the color guard which I participated in for the rest of my high school career. Because there was no recognized team captain, all the girls were expected to step up as leaders not only for themselves but for everyone else as well.…
I played basketball for all four years of my high school. I was on the freshman team my freshman year, Junior Varsity team my sophomore year, and played Varsity my junior and senior year. My freshman year I was voted team captain and that helped me gain leadership skills and communication skills. I earned the award of honorable mentioned in basketball. In Basketball I practiced a lot, because I knew I could get better. Throughout basketball we had several coaching changes. We had Mr. Smith then Mr. Parker and now Mrs. Smith as coaches. Having a different coach every year I feel like it was making it more difficult for the players to grow as a team and ourselves. Each coach had very different ways of teaching the game. Even though it was hard to have coaches leave we also gained different amounts of knowledge from each one, which I thought was a great privilege to get to…
As a freshman, I made the varsity volleyball team. With this position came a lot of responsibility and pressure. My teammates always looked at me as the “baby”, but they expected me to play at the same level as the seniors. I learned how to deal with difficult personalities and I learned how to commit myself to a team and a sport. I also learned that I was a role model to other teammates and young volleyball players. Just like the Pink Ranger, people looked up to me and I tried to lead by example throughout my volleyball career.…
Ever since I was a little girl I dreamt about being on the Indianettes dance team. Dancing has been a part of my life from the age of four up until now. When I was younger I was not the best dancer but I loved it, and my mom already paid for my classes so i was kind of stuck doing it anyways. My eighth grade year I was preparing to tryout for the Indianettes, I was stretching, working on my technique, and working on my jumps and turns. It turns out that the old coach Sheri Bradley quit and the Indianettes had a new fairly inexperienced coach named MariAnn Barfus. I wasn't very confident about making the team. Long story short, I ended up making it along with Jaidyn Harris, Hannah Hyde, Daphnie Colpron, Carson Davis, Becca Osterhout, Mechelle…
During my Junior year of High School, I had the honor to be elected as the Junior Varsity Cheerleading Captain. The team and I instantly had a bond that was unbreakable, although we faced some difficult times.…
One of my most defining experiences to date has been my involvement with the colorguard squad at my school. The colorguard squad is an auxiliary unit that is part of the marching band. We perform with the band at Friday night football games during halftime while spinning flags and rifles to the music. To me, colorguard is so much more than that. Freshman year when I went to tryouts I was terrified. I did not have any friends trying out with me; I was walking into a gym full of older girls whom I had never met. To my surprise, being on the squad for the past three years has been such a defining achievement during high school for me. Without the squad I would have had a completely different experience in school. I learned the value of hard work…
Cheerleading is one of my most defining life experiences. The sport allowed me to explore not only my leadership qualities, but also my own mentorship abilities. From a newbie to cheerleading in middle school, I grew and developed into a role model on my cheerleading team in high school.…
I am student that is involved in the arts and sciences more than sports. I never played a team sport in high school, but I feel that marching band and musical alike have allowed to learn and later demonstrate the mentality of both a leader and team player. To be apart of both of these group at a younger age was an experience that I would not trade for the world. As a senior member of both activities now, I have stepped up as a…
Learning to balance my schedule and manage my time was a key factor in my everyday schedule. From missing days of school to compete at regionals, nationals, or worlds, I always stayed on top of my school work. As I grew older, dance became more challenging, as my love for it diminished. I used to be one of the best dancers my age division, but everyone seemed to be catching up to me. It was frustrating knowing that all of my hard work was not paying off, and every loss made me more discouraged. I pushed through the losses for many years, and finally decided to take time off. I found myself back in the studio only ten months later, ready to work harder than ever. My time off made me realize how important dance was in my life, and I much I needed…
I have been part of Barrington High School’s track team for all three of my high school years and I intend on being on it again next year. As a varsity member for the duration of my track career, I have had the opportunity to be a leader on my team through positive energy and hard work. By working hard and continuing to have a positive attitude in both meets and practices I have been able to lead by example and have a positive impact on our track program. Other than my leadership role within track, I have been a leader by volunteering in my schools “broncos committed” program. Through this program, I have been able to attend middle school events, encouraging up and coming freshman to live a drug and alcohol free lifestyle once they enter high school. Being a leader is something that is important to me because I can make a difference by setting a good example for the people on my gymnastics and track teams as well as the other people in my…
I think being part of this cheer team will show me how to be a better leader than i am today. Now i dont have the best school record, but i honestly believe if i make this team it’ll help me find who i really am. The leadership i been showing has not been the best but i am trying to change that all around. Being a baby bulldog cheerleader just might help me to take on that challenge.…
An experience that has significantly transformed me into the person I am today are the beginning years of my cheer “career.” The first three years were the most difficult that i have faced throughout the nine years I have cheered in total. I was not the most athletic, skinniest, or skillful cheerleader there can be. Also since i was new to the cheer world, as all cheerleaders call it, I didn't have as many friends. As time went on I slowly started to get the hang of things and what went on with this new sport. My coaches always punished me in everything I did. I had to prove myself to everyone that I can be just like them and nothing less.…
I am a great leader and throughout my high school career I have taken every opportunity I could to display this. For three out of my four years I have participated as a Muskoka Woods Leader. This required me to spend a week at a summer camp at which I would lead a group of grade 7s through a series of fun activities. Being a leader at this camp wasn't always fun and games though. I had encountered many situations with the grade 7s in which I would have to improvise and apply my knowledge of leadership to sort out. For example, during one of our games we would play, there was a little boy who was sitting off on the side not participating. I went over to talk to the boy to find out what was wrong. When I found out that he didn't understand how to play the game I knew exactly how to fix it. I brought him over to a corner and me and him played our own little one on one version of the game. I taught him how to play and I played with him until he was finally ready to join the other grade 7s. As well as being a Muskoka Leader, in my grade 11 year, I was a Link Leader for my high school. This was different from being a Muskoka Leader because this time I was working with grade 9 students who were entering high school. Throughout the year I worked with the grade 9s giving them secret tips and tricks about how they could survive their freshman year of high…
Each time I moved I had to start as a ‘newbie’, which prevented me from obtaining a leadership position. However, I still used the qualities of a leader to help the freshmen with their marching technique and memorizing their music. I also assisted my section leader and drum major when possible, tidying the band room after a competition, or passing out water at performances.…