After months of research and preparation, the moment I have anticipated for so long is finally here: the Georgia FBLA State Leadership Conference. Upon arriving at the conference, I head straight to room 211, rehearsing my presentation to the beat of my heels clicking against the tile floor. I am at the conference for one reason and one reason only: to become a state champion. Competing in the category titled Public Service Announcement, I have slaved over the production of a thirty second video for the past three months, perfecting every millisecond of it. With months of handwork and sleepless nights at stake, I refuse to go home without a first place win. If you’re not first you’re last. At approximately 6:45 P.M., I step into room 211 with a smile on my face. Dressed to kill in khaki dress pants, a white button up, and a black blazer, I adjust my high, sleek ponytail and proceed to the front of the …show more content…
When the announcer calls for my competition, I walk up the stairs to the right of the stage, anxious to hear what place I have received. The nine other competitors and I stand shoulder to shoulder in a horizontal line with FBLA officers to the left and right of us. The only view in front of me is the blinding lights beaming into my eyes, emphasizing every drop of sweat rolling down my forehead. A few yards away, directly behind the curtain, the announcer begins to read what every one of us standing upon the stage have anticipated for so long: the results. As the announcer descends down his list—"10th place is...9th place is...8th place is..."—the line of optimistic contenders narrows in width. Every time a name is called, a heartbroken competitor steps out of line, accepts his or her award, and exits the stage. As the line continues to narrow, I am not surprised to still be among the remaining few; I am confident. There is no such thing as second place; either you’re first or you’re
As a former banking executive and an astute business woman with a Bachelor of Science in Social Psychology, Masters of Business Administration and two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Burnette has collected an impressive range of achievements. She is a professional member of the Association of Training and Development and the National Speakers’ Association. She has received numerous speaking awards from Toastmasters International, and her company’s client list includes Fortune 500 and 100 corporations and non-profit organizations such as Procter & Gamble, GE Aviation, PepsiCo, Hearst/Argyle Television Inc, Lexis Nexis, Nationwide Insurance, NCR, the National Communication Action Partnership, Inc., DIEAGO and the federal government.
“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” is a quote by Grantland Rice which suggests that winning is not important as long as one tries their best. In the movies “Chariots of Fire” and “Next Goal Wins”, the notion and meaning of sport is explored in both similar and dissimilar ways. Although “Chariots of Fire” and “Next Goal Wins” both follow the journey of sport and competition, the characters in the respective films show contradicting views on the idea that winning or losing sport is unimportant in light of the best effort.
In all of the events I’ve competed in, learning from losses has given me a better learning experience than when I won a competition. During my second year in SkillsUSA I competed in many different events, performing an opening ceremony, explaining how to make an Ethernet cable, and running to be a leader at a district level in Texas just to name a few. In all of these competitions, I never really tried my hardest. I thought that I didn’t need to prepare or practice any of the skills that would have helped me. During the award ceremony, I was shocked to learn how mediocre I really did. This was especially true when the new District Officers were announced for the 2014-2015 school year and my name wasn’t announced. I soon realized that most of the other competitors have spent months practicing and preparing for this competition
Bailey, Thomas Andrew, David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen. "Chapter 16." The American Pageant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. N. pag. Print.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
As an active leader in several organizations, I have had the opportunity to reach out to several different groups of youth throughout my years. The utmost prestigious role I have gained is my Area IX Office in the Texas FFA Association. Being an area IX officer had been my goal since freshman year, and I finally accomplished it this past May. Over the course of the past few months, we have held several leadership camps, but I feel our highest success has been the Area IX FFA Leadership Camp held in June.
"C'mon, Chris, you get in the shower first," Taylor ordered from the other bed. "You're already up." Chris conceded and worked his way to the shower. Everyone in the room knew it too, due to his grunting and whining under his breath. Soon enough he was out of the shower and so were Taylor, Anders, and I. We ate breakfast with the rest of the team downstairs in the hotel in silence. It was too early to talk or chat. Everyone knew that one thing was going to be on their minds: winning. It was not worth discussing, either. Everyone knew that our varsity eight was possibly the strongest that McCallie had ever had, and that we had a good chance of winning some gold medals that day, if not a great chance. We loaded on the bus like ants, noiselessly flowing into one little opening. The bus ride was silent all of the way over as well. Everyone's heads, looking intently forward, were slightly jostling along with the bumps in the road. Some tried to sleep, but the tension and excitement was too much for most of them to be successful.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The Leadership Challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2007). The Leadership Challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA 94103-1741: Jossey-Bass.
• A Nike advertising campaign at the Atlanta Olympic Games with the slogan “You don’t win silver, you lose gold.”
During the second stage, the boys met each other and competed in contests such as baseball and tug of war. The stakes were high, because the winners took home valuable prizes.... ... middle of paper ... ...2011. The. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080912-Hurricane-Ike-Causes-Gas-Price-Spike-Shortages-Fights-at-the-Pump/>. Miami, FIU have 31 suspended for role in brawl - College Football - ESPN.
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
I dip my toes in—feels cold. My nerves rise up and spread like fire throughout my body while I watch—while I wait. Stomach hurts. All those butterflies clash and crowd. They come every time that I race—it never fails. There is so much noise—the splash of water, talking, yelling, whistling, cheering.
I have also learned about different types of audiences and speeches including persuasive, informative, entertaining and delivering special occasion speeches. It came to my attention that whenever I was making these presentations or speeches, I needed to do so with confidence, consistence and practice before the actual presentation and completely eliminate the element of panic. It was also clear that capturing the attention of the audience and engaging them in the whole process, it was necessary to have a very strong introduction and also try and use visuals to deliver the message. It was therefore vital to respect each person’s diversity and cultural values (Lucas, 2011).
My determination to tackle discrimination was heightened by my selection to attend the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Conference, where I spent three blissful days surrounded by supportive, intelligent and committed people who taught me how to use my voice.