Leadershape

By: Amanda Van Meter

My experience at LeaderShape was amazing. I learned so much about myself that I never realized before I went there. I also realized that reaching my goal is possible and LeaderShape equipped me with the skills to make it possible. I grew so much in those six days.
When I first arrived at LeaderShape, I realized that I was probably the oldest one there and that I would not fit into what was going on, that I would be out of place. So automatically I put this barrier into my brain, so the first night I really didn’t get into all the activities, I just was a bystander watching what happened. That became one of my gages to work on and I accomplished. As a group it took us forever literally to pick out a name for our group, but we finally come up with Pangaea. I must say that we were the best group ever after that first day. We all really bonded and really worked well together.
The next few days were amazing from the low ropes course, where we all worked together as a team to overcome obstacles. Even though it was just a ropes course it really taught me that you have to listen to everyone’s ideas and not to get frustrated when your ideas are not heard right away. I can use this throughout my career as a teacher because I am going to have to work with a wide variety of children and parents that think and act different than me.
I loved the balloon activity that Pangaea did together as a team. This taught me that you don’t have to be so competitive. As a team we accomplished the goal of building the biggest balloon castle, but we didn’t stop there. We got greedy and wanted it to be taller so no one could match ours and that’s when it all came crashing down, by being to competitive when it was not necessary, caused different problems that were not anticipated or planned for. I will be able to use this knowledge in my career and also achieving my goal by not over extending my abilities.
The biggest impact in my life came from the DISC test. I never realized that I had a dominate personality. This was a shock to me, because I am very shy and quite until I get to know people, I don’t like being rude or mean. When I first saw that I was a D. I was like no way, but after stepping back and looking over the descriptions I totally am D. I realize now that it is not a bad thing and that I can embrace being a dominate personality without being rude or mean or any other horrible thing. Through this test I learned how to work with different personalities and what other types of personalities will succeed at doing things that I can’t. This is something that I will use my whole life, not just at a job or college, but in everything that I do.
All the knowledge that I gained from the short few days I was at LeaderShape has changed my life for the better. I now know how to reach my goals in my chapter, my life and also my personal goal that I worked on all week to develop into a vision that I want to accomplish in my lifetime. I realized that my vision doesn’t have to be all done in one summer but by setting goals, steps to gain ground and being specific on what I want, and being open to others ideas, I can accomplish my vision. I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity that was given to me. I will never forget it, and will use all the skills I learned my whole life.