Roldan 1

Sonia Roldan

April 26, 2017

AVID 11

Period 2

College Personal Reflections

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

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

Over the years, and especially my three of high school, I have been able to receive many

and take advantage of opportunities in leadership roles. I have been a part of leading coordinate

AVID social events, been a part of the SVHS pep squad board and was able to lead the junior

varsity team as JV captain. These leadership roles have increased my ability to have control and

communication with people. Over time, these leadership roles have helped me grow by

becoming more encouraging, responsible, patient, social, and I have been able to become

outstanding at directing people to perform their tasks.

By receiving these leadership skills over the years, I have been able to take my charge of my

responsibilities and fully understand the meaning of being committed. As my biggest role being

a JV captain, I had to step up and put all differences aside and take charge. I had accomplished

building a team and coordinated us as a team successfully. Most of my roles as a leader have

come with challenges but that with any important role and I have been able to overcome them

with the help of my ability of control. This has helped me come to the realization that every role

of leadership does detain certain areas of your life.

 Roldan 2

I have learned to make sacrifices and use that when I am in desperation in life. Being a leader

and having a positive influence on others also helps me get a better reputation and have more

credibility when and while socializing with others.

Over time, these leadership abilities have helped me grow in many ways in which I have

stated. The positive outcome of the role has been able to impact me in many positive and helpful

ways. I can easily use these abilities in my everyday life and better myself as a person. With

skills to help myself and others, I build more trust and credibility. Receiving leadership roles has

happened by me making the time and commitment to dedicate hours into a team and workforce.

Without leadership skills most would be unbearable and incapable.

2. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and

demonstrated that talent over time?

Talents and skills portray the best of everyone and is a basic necessity to maintain a

positive image to others. I portray many great talents and skills even basic ones. Most who have

talents but do not know how to use or demonstrate them correctly have difficult time finding

where they fit. It has never been hard for me to place myself in the necessary work environment.

My skills vary in ways and environments. I have great team working skills for I have had

experience being on a team. I have the ability to work effectively with others and I can show that
 Roldan 3

I am a team player when needed to solve challenges being faced. I have a determined initiative

skill so when it comes to serious work I do what is required and I do not settle for the minimum,

I take the lead on projects to make sure jobs are being competed and done correctly. I also have

common skills such as active listening skills, problem-solving skills, loyalty, and independent

skills. These common skills can be common, but it is better to have common skills than lack in

basic skills.

Talents, in my opinion, are more important than skills because they are personalized to you. I

have talents that make me shine as a person. One talent is decision making for myself also

correlates to being independent. I also have the talent of being bilingual, I can speak both English

and Spanish. I use human resources for beneficial purposes when needed because I can also

admit I need help when I absolutely need it. I am every adaptive, so I easily adjust to new

environments very quickly.

My skills and talents prove and tell a lot about me as a person. I create an image for myself that

can be seen by others and be appreciated. Having skills and talents can really be a positive effect

on anyone because it will be useful in future jobs and any form of leadership role. When I use

my skills and talents I use them to help not only myself but others and put myself to the test.
 Roldan 4

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

worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Over the school years I have participated in taking advantage of all the opportunities I have. I

have been able to make a great use of all resources that I have for me to use. For example, I have

used AVID to prepare me and help me by taking the resources taught and going to put them to

use for when I attend college. With many resources, I have been able to overcome challenges I

struggle with or struggled with in the past. I have used AVID to overcome school challenges and

used resources in AVID such as tutorials to help me with subjects and lessons I am not

understanding.

In tutorials, I have been given help by being placed into my weakest subject group, math, and use

my peers to explain my point of confusion and to make sure I get a perfect understanding of what

I needed help with. I also use binder checks to help me maintain my disorganized binder in shape

and maintain everything organized how it should be. Also with the help of binder checks, I am

able to keep my notes organized and neat in Cornell notes style which can help me with note

taking skills for college.

Using AVID as my main resource to overcome many of my barriers has helped me in now and

will help me in the long run. Using Avid has helped shape me to be who I am now by changing

my bad habits and has helped me gain an understanding in many of my subjects. Overcoming

challenges I had in the past really changed my point of view in how I was seeing my challenges

and how I was only being closed minded about finding solutions.
 Roldan 5

4. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

To make my school or my community a better place I feel as I have not done enough to do so

but still I have attempted to by donating and participating. I have used community service as an

advantage to give back to the community. Last year, I participated on a college fair for the city

and spent a total of 46 hours working. I have also participated on donating goods at school when

drives come for such as clothes, canned foods, and blood. By setting aside time to make my

community a better place I need to know that little movements make a big difference.

If I did not attempt to be opened minded I am pretty sure there would be a greater effect on

someone else. What I learned from my effort is that yeah it might not seem like I am doing a lot,

but to others I am helping it means the world to them. My actions benefited the community by

first being able to get college information and second by receiving donations they are able to be

clothed, fed, and in health. It also benefited me by opening my mind that there are others who

have it worst then me and actually do need help from others to get better and do better.

I did not work alone to make a change in the community, it takes many others to make small

details big. With the help of everyone participating and putting the pieces together, it is possible

to make a bigger impact on the situation. I hope to make progress and plan on continuing to

make change and add onto the list of what I have done. This is the starting point and I plan on

going into more depth into helping others in my community. I also want to help those at school

and have ideas on how to do so.