Describe a personal experience and how it has influenced who you are today. This essay should have a personal rather than a professional focus.

The Color War games at camp were the most anticipated weeks of the summer by both campers and staff. I had been a camper at Big Lake camp throughout childhood and when I reached high school I decided to become a summer counselor. During my 10th and final summer with the camp I was selected by the Directors for the highly coveted position of Color War General. Each summer only two staff members received this honor. It was an opportunity to lead your respective team, Green or White, through the two-week competition.

While I was excited about the role, I was also anxious. As Color War General I was in charge of leading and motivating 500 people to victory; a job which requires being an enthusiastic leader. Up until this point in my life I had led teams with diligence and organization, but never with passion. When I first assumed the position I naturally gravitated toward what was comfortable. I assigned teams roles: one person was signage, another marching, yet another Apace Relay. I had to develop the culture of our team and therefore established a zero-tolerance policy for put-downs and cheating. I leveraged the staff to help me enforce the rules and motivated them by explaining that Color Wars have been won and lost over sportsmanship points. These declarations created order and unity, but they would not be enough to win Color War.

Plans without passion do not inspire; I needed to put enthusiasm behind my leadership. To do so, I started dressing in white from head to toe to demonstrate spirit for my team. I threw out my inhibitions; by disregarding any notion of embarrassment, I was able to lead with more confidence. I learned our songs and stood in front of the crowd shouting at the top of my lungs. My obvious commitment to our cause instilled responsibility in individual team members. People started operating under a mentality that if I was committed to the fight, then they should be too. If an activity was on-going and I came over to the sidelines to watch, staff would direct campers by saying “Play tough! (I am) here to watch.”

Serving as a Color War General helped me to refine my leadership style and reaffirmed my belief that hard work rarely goes unnoticed - I was selected for the job due my dedication over many summers. I never expected that I would have been a good General, but someone took a chance on me and it helped me to grow. This has taught me that I need to take risks and provide teammates opportunities outside their comfort zones. Most importantly, it showed me that not all problems are best solved with logic. In business I have found that success comes equally from high quality analysis as it does from a motivated team who is passionate about the project.