Personal Insight

Personal Insight

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Personal Insight

(First Promot) What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

The most productive talent or skill of mine is time management that I have learned by playing football and chess. I always believe that time is precious and has great value in my life achievement, therefore, if I lose it, I never get it back.

Football: Before moving to the USA in 2016, I used to watch football on television only and had an experience of playing it. I was unsure about how to play it when I arrived in the USA. My mom took me to the Birmingham Community Charter High School for the tryout. I practiced with a bunch of skillful players. After the practice ended, the coach told me: “Nice Job young fellow, I see you out there with those blocks”. The following morning I woke up and noticed that I finally made it to the team as a Linemen. My first actual practice started from 4:00 P.M to 8:00 P.M. every Monday to Friday.

After practicing for four hours daily it was not easy for me to manage time for my homework, study for tests and quizzes. I have observed various players suffering from bad grades while they perform well on the field. It causes me to develop a skill of proper time management that can help me to excel in academics and football at the same time. Some of the steps I took were planning, organizing myself from losing time and preparing myself two days before any tests. I was always ready for pop quizzes and any open discussions. The results of time management can be seen in my life through getting good grades, winning all of the league games, and walking through the city championship.

Learning time management while I was playing football helped me to join the other organizations in my school like a chess club. I got mastered it as a young adult in high school. In September 2019 I got selected as the top 5 players in the club and in October I won a championship trophy between numerous and skillful players at school. Time management taught me how to manage multiple tasks in a specific way and within a limited time. Also, it made me proactive by teaching how to plan for everything ahead.

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

Since 6th grade, I have been the leader of my family. When I was a young kid, we emigrated from Iran to Turkey and then stayed there for three years as refugees. At first, we had a language barrier and we were unable to find any places to work. We had to get any of the work opportunities into consideration, for instance, we had to agree with all of their conditions such as long day shifts and earning one dollar a day. After a month, looking for a job, I finally found a sign on the window of a butcher store, “worker wanted” was written there. I was not sure what to do because I had a fear of working with a knife since childhood. Though, I did not have any more chances to find other jobs in different areas because Turkish people did not give a job to foreigners especially to refugees.

Therefore, I decided to walk inside the Butchery and talked to the owner to get the job. After talking to the owner, I got hired and felt excited because I became able to make money which means we did not have to worry anymore about our monthly rent. Being a butcher for a 12 years old boy was tough. All night, after work, I had to deal with the pain of cuts in my hand and I had to hide my pain from my mother so she would not be upset.

My mom is a single parent. This always hurts me because she has to carry all of the burdens of the family. I never want to see my mother under stress or any kind of pressure, so I worked and studied hard days and nights to improve my Turkish to find a better-paid job.

My mom’s advice and my responsibility helped me to build on my leadership skills during our stay in Turkey. After moving to the USA, I became a College Peer counselor (CPC) at Birmingham Community Charter High School. Every day, I help a lot of students with their college applications, especially their FAFSAs and Dream Act applications. I always try to help and guide them as much as I can and they always tell me that I am a blessed creature in this world which makes me happy.