Personal Narrative: Peer Mentoring

Leadership is beyond giving orders. It is having the right amount of confidence, intelligence, and self-respect to not only be heard--but listened to--by others. In high school, one of my greatest leadership accomplishments occurred through a club called Peer Mentoring. This club has given me a whole new perspective on leadership and has helped me to develop skills needed to be a strong, respected leader. I joined this club at the beginning of my junior year and its purpose is for upperclassmen to mentor the freshmen students coming into the high school building, welcome them into a new environment, and help them transition with ease. When I was a freshman, I was nervous weeks before the first day of school. Not only did I worry about coming …show more content…
We met them a week before school started at their orientation, introduced ourselves, and took them on a tour around the building. Beginning the first day of school, I began visiting the homeroom and familiarizing myself with the students. I found that some were very approachable and others were more secluded and it was harder to get to know them. Eventually, they all opened up to me and I became attached to many of them. Throughout the year, we held many events such as a volleyball tournament, a football game tailgate, and an ugly sweater party. My homeroom entered the volleyball tournament together as a team and asked me to join them. This was an instance in which I felt greatly accomplished and realized that Peer Mentoring was exactly what I wanted to be doing. By going to the homerooms and talking to the classes of freshmen, my public speaking skills greatly improved. My team-work skills and social skills also improved tremendously because I met many different people and learned how to efficiently work with the other mentors. I enjoyed it so much that I applied for a position as a Senior Peer Mentor. Out of the forty Junior Peer Mentors, only five are chosen to move to senior