This semester, I volunteered at the Buckeyethon Dance Marathon at the Ohio Union. Buckeyethon is a non-profit organization that raises money to help support families undergoing the hardships that come with pediatric cancer. The Buckeyethon Dance Marathon is a twenty-four hour event that celebrates all the money previously fundraised with families that Buckeyethon benefits. There are dance floors, a variety of games, fundraising opportunities, and so much more! Through this service I was able to help support children with pediatric cancer and provide some fun in their life. Through this experience I learned how much I love seeing children smile, whether they have cancer, a different disease, or any type of struggle in there life. It is so rewarding to be the reason somebody else is smiling. This volunteering trip helped me grow as a leader because it impacted me to try and take a higher role with Buckeyethon next year. I would love to gain more leadership experience through Buckeyethon. Because of service learning I am so grateful for my blessings and my ability to help support other people.

Over two of the three times I have gone back to my hometown this semester, I have been able to help out at my favorite volunteer service. Although I am legally not allowed to give much information away about the Moriah House, my volunteering consists of driving to the city of Cleveland to help cook breakfast and interact with children and their mothers. I have been volunteering here for many years, and initially learned about it through my mother, aunts, and parish. I typically arrive at 8:30 A.M. and leave around noon. I first go into the house and sign a waiver, followed by setting up, cooking breakfast, feeding the families, eating and playing with the children, and cleaning up. Over my past two visits this semester I was able to help out for around seven hours.

Through these experiences over the course of my life, I have grown a love for children. Most of the children that live there and come down for breakfast are below ten years old, and they are the happiest people you will ever meet. I love everything about the whole experience, but seeing the children and joking around with them is the true reason I love helping out so much.

My biggest takeaway from a leadership aspect through the Moriah House is time management. I have always loved cooking, but I typically work alone. However, in this kitchen there are about seven people doing their own tasks trying to time it up perfectly so it can all be served at once. As the youngest there, I am not necessarily the ringleader of the operation, but I have been able to pick up on how to most effectively manage time and deal with certain disasters.

Because of service learning I am so grateful for all of the blessings in my life, and so happy I can have an impact on the lives of others, no matter how memorable it is for them.

This past month, I volunteered at a sixteenth mile water station for the Columbus Marathon. The full volunteering event lasted around six hours, however, my sister was running the marathon so I helped out for four and cheered her on for the other two. I actually found out about the water station through my sister who wanted me to be there to cheer her on when she started getting tired.

Other than handing out beverages for the runners and making sure they stayed hydrated, I believe our most important role was providing encouragement for those who had little to no supporting cast around them. Most runners had visible name-tags and we were able to cheer them on by name and tell them to stay focused on their goal.

Through this service, I was able to realize how much I truly enjoy talking to people I did not previously know. Obviously, I could not have a full conversation with the runners, but it was very fun to exchange a few words to a wide variety of people as the ran by.

This personal experience impacted my leadership abilities not by practicing my leadership skills or learning new lessons about how to lead, but by seeing all the runners who refused to give up. I was much more emotional for my sister that day than I could have imagined, along with all the other runners. Seeing how dedicated each runner is helped me realize how important commitment is in achieving every goal.

Because of service learning I am now more dedicated in everything I do, so I can be the best at what I do.

From the True Colors assessment, I learned much more about my personality, and why I take on my everyday activities in the manner I do. My true color was orange: outgoing, spontaneous, creative, open-minded, adventurous, and competitive. I have always viewed myself as an in the moment person, so these characteristics from the Orange color matched well with my personality.

At the same time, I was able to see how much the other colors played a role in my life whether it was through me or other people. My second most frequent color in the test was gold, which describes people who like to be organized, stay on task, and plan ahead. Although these two colors are contradicting, it is a very good balance to have in my life. It gives me the opportunity to plan out the big things going out throughout my day, week, month, or even year, but at the same time I am able to live on the edge and let those plans be fluid instead of rigid.

Ultimately, the True Colors test gave me a healthy sense of what I need in my life to be successful, how I can stay on task, and who I can surround myself with in order to live my life to the fullest. A mixture of every color through yourself or others is the best equation to a strong sustainable lifestyle, but for me living my “orange” life is most important to me. I will attempt to always keep a care free sense of living in my values, but hope to balance it out with other attributes.

Leadership is the ability to involve and better those around you. For example, in the 2015 MVP finals, Matthew Dellavadova willed his team to compete against all odds. Although many think Lebron carried the team, it was the willingness of Delly to give his all in order to persuade his team to do the same. Although the team ended up losing the series, the Cavaliers would surely have been swept without their unlikely leader. Lacking skills and natural gifts of most other NBA players, Delly’s leadership was his biggest contribution.

I find his willingness to grind a virtue of leadership, although it was not a vocal form, because Matthew led his team to better themselves. The leader does not always have to be the one you think it is; a leader can often be the most unexpected of characters. Through his love for teamwork and dedication to being his best self by making others better, Delly embodies the role of a natural leader. A true leader, such as Dellavadova, understands that their primary role is to help everyone around them be their best selves in order for the leader to grow into their best form.