1Michael Kusi Sept 15 2005 A Reflective Essay on NSLC

I went to NSLC from Aug 2 to Aug 12, and it was a good experience for me. I learned about leadership and medicine, and had fun at the same time. By the end, I had made many friends, and took home things which I can use at home. For my reflective essay on NSLC, I am going to select three topics on what I have done in NSLC and analyze them. I will describe what I have learned from these experiences. I will be describing the day we did the Ropes Challenge Course.11th.Next, I will be describing the Leadership Box that we did on Aug 4. I will also be describing the speech that we had to do on Aug 11, and prepared for from Aug 3rd to Aug 14 Finally, I will be describing All Out, an activity that we did on Aug 11. In all of these activities, I learned about leadership and the characteristics be a leader. I also learned how to go on in spite of your fears and anxieties. The day that we did the Ropes Challenge Course was Aug 3, at 1:00 to 5:00 pm. It was a hot day, about 90 degrees, and to tell the truth, I didnt want to be there. I thought that it was too hot to do this and that it would be boring and do nothing to help me. Also, I had been hurt when I had done this and had to be sent home, so I didnt want this to happen to me. However, it was fun when we did the Ropes Challenge Course. We first started off with trying to learn other peoples names, then we did jump rope, in which all of us had to jump the rope once in order to finish the activity. At first, I was a little cautious, because doing this same activity had made my leg hyper extended and had caused me to be sent home, but I did it anyway and nothing bad happened. 1

Then we played a game in which a chicken was thrown and we had to catch it and run around in a circle. This helped us to work as a team and showed us the value of teamwork. Next, we divided into teams and played a game of Freeze Tag. This also helped in leadership because it taught us how to be leaders, and how to follow other people for the common good.. Next, we went to the ropes course, and we divided into teams of four, three of us had to operate the ropes and one of us had to go on the ropes. It taught me about trust, because I had to trust the people that were operating the ropes. However, I dont like heights, and so I wasnt all that happy when it came to be my turn. I winced at the thought of going on the ropes because I thought that I might fall and get hurt, or worse killed. But I went on, because everyone else had gone on and I did not want to seem afraid. I went and decided to stop about halfway there, because I thought that I had gone far enough. However, my friends yelled at me to go on, and so I did. I went and went, until I went to the top, and then I went down. This also taught me that I could face my fears, and that I should not allow my fears to override what I had to do. It taught me that also all leaders have fears, they don t allow their fears to take control of what they have to do. We then went inside a building that was close to the Ropes Challenge Course,and did some activities. Among these was balancing a stick on our index fingers to bring it to the ground. I thought that this was fun, and on many attempts, we finally did it. It taught me how to work together, and how to do things for the better good. Finally, we did an activity in which we had to roll an egg on poles into a bucket. It took a long time, but we finally did it. I thought that it was tiring at first, but later I thought that it was fun. It took almost an hour to do it, but in the end it was worth it when the egg fell into the bucket. I learned a lot during these activities, including teamwork, conquering your fears, and patience. 2

The Leadership Box also helped me to learn about leadership. We had to sit and fill out a form, and based on those questions, it told you what kind of person you were. I found out that I am a Koala, which means that I am a listener, a person who has a lot of patience, and one who can absorb a lot of criticism. That was a surprise to me, because I always thought that I was a Owl, because I tend to analyze some things before I do them. This taught me about a leader, because a leader has to know about himself before he or she can lead others. Then the person who were lecturing asked us some questions and told us to try to answer her in two or three minutesWe had to work together in order to solve the questions in two minutes, and we had to talk together. At first, I thought that this would be boring, but as the two minutes passed, I thought that this was more and more interesting. It taught me about working together to solve a problem and about speaking up to express your opinions, no matter what you think other people think about what you are about to say. I learned that leaders should not be afraid to talk when they know that they have something to say, even if they are afraid to say something. Then we answered the question. This was an interesting activity and I learned a lot about myself, such as why I sometimes act the way I do. The speech that my group had to do from Aug 3rd to Aug 14th took a lot of time and patience. First, we met in a classroom and had to read a selected passage. Then we had to vote on who we wanted to go and say the speech. When it was my turn, I tried to do as good a job as possible because I did not want to mess up or fail. I tried to put as much emotion into it as I could , and

many people said that my performance was good. I went up there nervous, but I was determined not to let my nervousness take control of me. I spoke as loud and as clear as I could, without screaming. Then we had to vote, and I was chosen to do the main body. The next days, we had to do research on the topics and on the first day, we didnt get much research done, but in the next four days, my group began to put together the speech. We finished, and I had to put together all the information. Finally, the day came, and I had to go onto stage. I was nervous at first, and I picked up the microphone. Then I thought that I did not need it, so I put down the microphone and began to speak. I saw that people were beginning to go to sleep and I was afraid that people would go to sleep. So I spoke as loud and as expressive as I could to wake people up. I tried to be emotional and loud, and so people listened to what I had to say. I learned that leadership is about stepping up and doing what you have to do when people are counting on you to do your responsibilities. Leadership is also about taking charge when you are responsible for a group of people and not letting your fears override what you have to do. Finally, the All Out activity also taught me about leadership and the characteristics of a leader. The NSLC students went into the auditorium and sat down, and Ms. Jackson, the director of NSLC, spoke about leadership and told us that whoever wanted to speak was free to speak. I 4

thought to myself that I wasnt going to speak because she did not make it mandatory for us to speak. One by one, I saw many people go up and talk about their experiences, and many of them cried. I was determined not to go up there, because I did not want to cry in front of the NSLC. My roommate, went up there, and to my surprise, he cried. He then sat down and asked me if I wanted to go up there and I said no. He said Why not, I went up there. I said that I didnt want to go because I had nothing of importance to say and besides, she said if you wanted to go up there, you could. Then he called me a pussy and told me that everyone was going up there and so I might as well go up there too. After 10 or 15 minutes of telling me, I finally decided to go up there, but by the time I got up there, the time was up. I learned that leaders should not be afraid to show emotion, because leaders are people too, and that leaders should conquer their fears. I learned a lot about leadership during this time. In the Ropes Challenge Course, I learned that leaders should conquer their fears and try out new things. In the Leadership Box, I learned that leaders should speak up if they want to be heard. In the speech, I learned that leaders should be able to take responsibility for the group and to complete their tasks. Finally, in the All Out activity, I learned that leaders should not be afraid to show emotion.