For me, leadership is observing a need, and taking the appropriate steps to sate that need, which could be by setting an example through your actions, being someone that others can look up to, or by taking charge of a situation. Throughout my high school career, I invested a large portion of my extracurricular time—and subsequently, my leadership, into one area—music. My high school’s band was where I was able to use my talents and where I always felt most comfortable. The collective culture within the group was perhaps the most inspiring part of being a member. In our band, we call ourselves the “Finest Band in the Land”. But even with this saying, we pride ourselves even more on an attitude of constant improvement. Even when we have given a great performance, our mentality is that there is always something that can be done better the next time. This is a relatively easy idea to carry out on an individual level—just keep trying to be the best that you can be. But it’s a more difficult when you’re dealing with an entire group (in this case, 224 individuals). Even if I believe that I am constantly trying to better myself, situations can still go awry—we might have a less-than-desirable rehearsal, the directors become frustrated with us, we become irritated with each other—and it’s easy to blame each other, because even though we might be working diligently as individuals, we aren’t achieving …show more content…
The graduating seniors, whom I had looked up to for the past three years, were phenomenal musicians and leaders with so much experience, who not only held themselves to a standard of excellence, but also lead others in a seemingly effortless way. I recall hearing from variety of other members something along the lines of “Wow, we’re going to be awful next year without them”. Everyone knew how much we had relied on this group, and knew that it would be a challenge to keep improving the next