Fleming 1 Tanner Fleming Ms.

Rebecca Agosta English 1101 18 Sept 2013 Literacy amongst Leadership All throughout life people are tested in different ways from mental, physical, or emotion standpoints. Some experiences come harder or seem easily based on the type of person you are. Depending on the route you choose to take in life, these tests or opportunities, however you may perceive them, there are always methods to build a stronger character and a stronger foundation into the lifestyle you strive to live. For my case, athletics have presented many of instances where I have been tested in a variety of way. As clich as it may sound, sports have molded me into the person I am today, in customs I know I would not have reached through another doorway. Leadership has become a strong suit in my personality through lessons and impacts on my life and those around me. I believe that leadership is more than just a trait that anybody can have, it is a way of communication and establishment through understanding. Now regardless if you are into sports, theatre, music, academics, the list goes on, the concept of leadership may or may not affect you in certain ways but I do believe we are exposed to it from any of lifes perspective. The true sense of leadership comes from the ability to communicate with others and prompt you into somebody who isnt forcing others to follow, but rather them choosing to. Along the process you can learn through being wrong, or even right. But what Im saying is leadership is more than just a concept; it is an influence upon literacy. Ive always believed in hard work and doing the job right if you are even going to start it from the beginning. Many of us share the same thoughts which might have to do with the fact
Commented [c8]: Is this an influence on your overall literacy or literacy in athletics? Commented [c6]: you are talking about leadership and how it has been taught to you through athletics but you never really show the reader a snap shot of how athletics taught you about leadership. Commented [c7]: I see how you are showing different athletics that can teach leadership. Commented [c3]: Athletics in general or is it a specific athletic thing like a sport or sports? Commented [c4]: ways Commented [c5R4]: Commented [c2]: Separate with a few lines or title where a snap shot starts so the reader knows which paragraphs are together and which ones are not. Commented [c1]: I recommend to read my last comment first.

Fleming 2 you are where you are right now. In fifth grade, I started football during the fall. This soon became something that I loved because I was good and I didnt even know it at the time. When the season had ended I was surrounded in admiration from my coaches, teammates, and parents of the team. I found my very first passion when I was 11 years old and I knew this was something I could really get into. The following year my coaches, teammates, and parents expected more from me. At such a young age I didnt really know what it meant to set an example or become somebody worth following. All I knew was that I was out there playing a game on Saturday mornings having a great time. When youre just a kid you dont really think about the way others look at you or even what they truly expect. As I look back on it now, at 11 years of age I was becoming a leader by hitting people and chasing after a ball. I began to realize that my emotions and my drive created somewhat of a ripple effect on those around me throughout the team. A positive demeanor with every drill and every play seemed to influence my teammates following me to do the same. Its almost as if I had the desire to set an affirmative trend during my role as a younger leader. As I would set the example, I was essentially communicating with others even though I wasnt speaking of verbal inspiration at the time. When I reached middle school, it seemed that all everybody could talk about were football tryouts during the first week of school. The leadership characteristics I had shown in my first two years of football prior had unintentionally transitioned into arrogance. Through my arrogance I chose not to practice and prepare for tryouts which resulted in me not making the team that year. As the most humbling experience in my life up until that point I wasnt exactly sure how to take it. I lacked discipline simply due to the fact that I had always had it easy and had never really run into a trial until these moments in my life. So as a new, humbled me had
Commented [c13]: I bet that did hurt. And I bet it was a wake up call! Commented [c12]: I like how you worded this. You stated you were a leader by example not through words in a smarter sounding way! Commented [c10]: This is a snapshot about leadership, but you started this paragraph talking about hard work is this and the first paragraph part of the same snapshot? Commented [c11]: This is showing a great why of how you learned leadership through football! Commented [c9]: I see you love football (me too!)

Fleming 3 prepared for the following year I took on a challenge to read former NFL coach Tony Dungys autobiography on leadership, Quiet Strength. His story taught me more of what I needed to know in order to promote myself as a substantial leader on and off the field of play even at such a young age, once again. I really took to heart that stubbornness could be a virtue when you are right, but a character flaw when you are wrong. When the next season had come around I was elected team captain and began to elevate my leadership into verbal communication rather than just setting an example like I did in the previous years. I had knowledge of football because it was something that I loved, and that I loved to study. When others didnt quite understand what to do, I didnt hesitate to become another coach on the side. Although football may seem simpler than it is, I can assure you there is more than meets the eye. Techniques, form, alignment, plays, the list goes on, understanding the game is just as important as attempting to play it. During high school, I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to play on the varsity team as a freshman. Even as the youngest player on the team, I was still called to make an impact on those around me through leadership. Except now it was through more than football. I was chosen to be a member of the D.R.E.A.M. Team which is an acronym for Daring to Role model Excellence as an Athletic Mentor. As one of the twelve members in the school, we were given the privilege to speak to younger children and even kids our own age about responsibility and becoming a leader themselves. I know it may sound sort of impractical to influence everybody we spoke to, but making a difference in one would mean we were still making an impact. Leadership is not something that is necessarily genetic. It can be taught; and that was something that we tried to do for people. In society, leadership is a distinctive trait that represents structure in operation. So in my opinion, without leadership, there is no foundation.
Commented [c19]: Still talking about leadership. Commented [c18]: One of the truest statements in this paper! Commented [c17]: Good way to show your verbal leadership. Commented [c16]: I like how not making the team made you change for the better. Commented [c15]: So true. Commented [c14]: It seems so far this is all about the literacy of leadership.

Fleming 4 My experience last year at the United States Air Force Academy probably played the biggest role in my experience as becoming and continuing leadership-based character. The military atmosphere required us as airmen, and as students, to work together in stressful environments and learn how to accomplish tasks optimally. Initiating action followed with guidance and motivation is the key to successful leadership. Communication was always organized and structured when we were given commands and when we were ordered to give them. Before my attendance to the academy, as well as my classmates, we had little to no understanding of military terminology. We were taught to communicate differently regardless if we were talking to each other, a subordinate, or somebody appointed over ourselves. Not only was this communication verbal, but technological and through body language.
Commented [c20]: So now that I am finishing I am seeing that you didnt choose to talk about how football taught you many literacys its more on how different events taught you more and more on the literacy of leadership. If thats what this is about then over all a good essay you just need to separate the different experiences that taught you about leardership so we know when a knew snapshot starts and stops