Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively

influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

What dictates a leader? What dictates a good or bad leader? The answer to these questions is the
same, a leader is one for the people, and with the people. I have not gotten the opportunity to demonstrate
my leadership abilities to its fullest potential, but I take every opportunity I get to its fullest. One of my
proudest leadership role would have to be the Youth Group I attend as a leader at my local Mosque. The
Mosque I attend has many programs involving children, which I am highly involved in. The reason that I
bring this up is because Im very proud of the things I can and have accomplished participating in the child
programs.
I first got into the helping children when a Syrian refugee family moved next door from my house.
They were completely lost and spoke very little English. Naturally, I went over and introduced myself and
asked if they needed any help, hoping they will say yes. They did. I introduced them to our local Mosque
and explained to them the differences between the US and Syria, what they can and cant do, and the
freedom of expression.
Several days passed by and one of the Syrian children got into a violent argument with another child
of a different religious belief. It looked like it was going to end in I stepped in and tried to explain to the
Syrian boy that this was not okay to do. That people are allowed to practice different beliefs, he understood
it and calmed down. The real problem was with the other boy, who refused to calm down. He was spouting
offensive nonsense to try and rile us up, but we refused to budge. Thirty minutes went by of me trying to
convince him that we are not that different and that we should not be fighting.
I broke. I felt the tension build, knowing I was about to say something I will regret. To counteract
what I was about I bit my tongue so hard that it started to bleed. The boy finally calmed down, and Ive
gotten to know him quite well since then.

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or

worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
 During the 5th grade, I moved to a different state, I left all my friends behind, and most of
my family. The school that I was attending had already started and were leaps and bounds ahead of
my previous one. Since English was not my first language and had not yet been refined, I struggled
to keep up with the most basic of things. This was an extremely challenging thing for me because
at that time I was barely familiar with the English language and now I had to catch up on months
of new material. To make things even worse than they could have possibly been, my teachers did
not care whatsoever about their students.
My teachers not caring didnt let me get the support that I needed, and wanted. I couldnt
get help because my parents were just as unfamiliar with English as I was. This was particularly
bad because the subject I needed help on was language arts. At that age, it is critical that children
learn as much of a language as they can, because as they get older, the harder it becomes and the
less effective it gets.
For months I struggled to keep a passing grade (D) and one day I had had enough. I knew
that I needed teachers that really wanted to teach, so I went to the principle asking to be
transferred. After explaining the situation, She agreed. In my new class, things were still at the
same pace as before, but the teacher cared more. But I was still behind on those things I had
missed earlier in the year, and the help I was getting at school was not fast enough. So I went with
the mindset that fun time was over, it was time to buckle down and study. For the remaining Fifth
grade year, I sacrificed play days and birthday parties in order to study. It wasnt easy, but I knew
that I had to do it because I am better than what my grades reflected.

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken
to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic
achievement?

As a child I had Glossophobia or speech anxiety, and that really affected how I behaved
during school and outside of school. This phobia was the hardest thing for me to conquer because
 there is no easy way out of it. I could not ask for help when I needed it and could not talk to
people. The thought of a crowd would drive me insane with anxiety. It took me years to get over it
and the road was long and tortuous. This particular anxiety was highly affecting the way I
performed in school, I did not and could not do any project or assignment where I had to interact
with a group of people.
I took many approaches to this certain bump in the road, but the technique that helped me
the most was the hardest. It was a sort of exposure therapy, I forced myself every day to talk to
more and more people at the same time. I started with three people, my previous max that would
not trigger the anxiety, and moved on from there. This was not an add more people every day
thing, because I remember getting to seven people and completely freezing and then running out of
the room. This happened more and more as the number of people I was interacting with increased.
My Glossophobia was finally treated with a lot of practice and forcing myself to do what I
had in my mind. Getting rid of the anxiety has tremandacly helped out my academic career. With
the anxiety I would never have taken advanced classes, and surely never have taken college
courses. I am now known to be quite good at debates and very talkative according my teachers.
This only proves that if you really put in the time and effort, eventually you will succeed.

. Describe your favorite academic subject and explain how it has influenced you.

My favorite subject would have to be Advanced Placement Economics. I am currently

enrolled in it and enjoying every second. I have always been curious of how an economy functions
and what factors come into play, and this class fulfills my curiosity. AP Economics is my most
favorite class because we always have something new to discuss, including current events. I am no
longer bored ripping my hair out waiting for a class to end. I can now tell you the correct definition
of the Labor Force or even Unemployment. But I did not take an advance placement class to
just memorize definitions of words you could have searched up. I took this class to see if I could
handle the world of Business, which I hope to go into in the future, and so far its been nothing but
good news.
Taking one of the most challenging classes I have ever taken was one of the best decisions I
hve made during my high school career. Something about the upcoming and already problematic
challenges that come with this class has given me a new perspective on other courses I am
currently taking. It also gave me a new found drive towards other activities. Before I would take
hours just sitting there procrastinating, now I just do my assigned work when it is assigned. This is
because AP Economics is so hard that procrastinating will not get you anywhere, and I really want
to get somewhere in business.
This class has influenced me to take and Introduction to Business class at my local
Community College. This class goes over Macroeconomics in more detail than my AP class. Its
significantly harder, but still doable. Taking AP Economics has influenced me to not only take
Introduction to Business, but other courses as well throughout my senior year of high school.
These courses will give me a head start on my general education and hopefully give my
application a little boost.