What Progress have you made toward reaching your goals?

My progress in the fulfillment of my short term goals has been remarkable. I am well on my way to achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.8 for my undergraduate career. I made excellent progress in reaching this goal and now need to maintain the level of success I have had in the past few semesters. Also my other goal of acquiring an internship for the summer had a slight change of plans and I will instead be working full-time with my father this summer in place of an internship. I am happy with this decision as I feel that working with my father can be a very valuable experience equal to any experience I would have attained in an internship. Also I have recently applied to the Leadership Development Internship for the coming semester which I am very excited about and hope to get the position as I am very eager to give back to the program which has given so much to me. 

What challenges have you faced?

In attempting to reach my goals there have been many challenges that I have faced, some which I have overcome and some which I am still battling to overcome currently. The most challenging of these roadblocks has been achieving the grades I needed to achieve my desired GPA. The classes I am taking are continually increasing in difficulty and require ever increasing effort to stay on top of my schoolwork and studying. Another challenge I am facing is working over 30 hours per week while still having to complete assignments and prepare for exams. Working this much has truly taught me to be responsible and manage my time efficiently to enable meet to still meet deadlines and leave myself enough time to study when needed. My last challenge has actually been myself, while it is not a large issue, I still feel that I sometimes get in the way of my own success and this is something I have been working to correct by motivating myself to excel in everything I do. 

What have you continued to learn about yourself as a leader?

I have continued to learn many things about myself as a leader, and still continue learning each day. I have learned to control my competitive nature in order to better serve as a team member and leader. While being competitive may be beneficial in some instances, I have learned that as a leader it is more important to focus on the success of the team over my own personal success. I have also learned to better delegate in team environments, such as group work, allowing others to take lead when possible. This has helped me to be a more effective group member and given me a different and improved perspective on working effectively in a team dynamic. I also have learned that I truly enjoy helping others to succeed. Whether it be helping someone with something that I have knowledge in or pushing others to succeed when they doubted themselves, it is very rewarding to help others to improve themselves. Overall I have continued to learn many things and remain open to learning every day in order to become the most well-rounded leader I can possibly be.