NO

Personally, I hate saying no in any situation; especially whenever someone asks me for help or for a certain commitment. I can not stand ever letting anyone down, no matter what the circumstances were. Due to this characteristic, the fact that I barely ever say no is a big downfall of mine. But in order for you to fully understand why I am like this in the first place, I need to give you some background information. I have had anxiety for most of my life; but for a couple years now it has started to reach an all time high, It has gotten so bad that any spare or free moment that i have is filled with the overtaking anxiety. Since this is so, I do all that is in my power to make myself busy. I don't like allowing the anxiety to take over as it tends to do so in a very emotionally damaging ways, and usually results in an emotional breakdown. Due to this issue, I also attempt to say yes to anything someone outs forward to me. If you were to look at my day planner that fact would be very easily noticed. This, is what leads to most of the stress that is in my life and makes me constantly exhausted. So for me, the power of no is a huge issue, that I need to figure out how to use properly.

Integrity

Being honest is one of the most important things that a person could do. Being honest to ones self, to start with. What exactly are you able to do, and do you know to what limit or level you can work at. Being honest with your surroundings and the people immediately around you. Making sure that they know what you are capable of and what you stand for. Morally, one has to be proud of where they stand and what they will fight for. Integrity is essential for a leader to properly be in charge and responsible. It shows those around you, how dedicated and sincere you are in all of your actions. How you are truthful in all that you do, and would never turn your back on those around. With this, people who "follow" a leader, should feel safe almost. As if they have found a person with whom they can be their true selves around. For a leader this would be treating the people around them with a great amount of respect and truly showing them how much they matter. Integrity is the glue that keeps leader intertwined within a certain group.

Strength

Difficult and testing events occur in everyone's life from time to time. This event could be at a high extreme, so as the loss of someone; or a low level, like carrying on in a workout. Both situations are completely different, yet they do both contain strength. The strength to carry on, and to do one's very best in all of their tasks. Strength for me is on of the most important parts of my life. If I wasn't a strong willed person, I wouldn't be able to do half of the things I do. I wouldn't be able to hold my three jobs, skate on the side, continue to go to school and have relationships with people outside of my family. Without strength, I wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning and put on a smile. Without strength, I wouldn't be the person who I am today. Strength is essential, for me at least, to be successful in everything that I do. It is also something that I look for in people that I meet everyday. It is a attribute that shines above all others and defines how a person acts. Strength is fund only in some of the greatest of leaders; and is needed in order for one to take charge.

Disappointment

Disappointment is one of the strongest feelings that a person can hold towards another being, or themselves. Personally, when I get disappointed the most, it tends to be centered towards my own failures. I get disappointed when I don't finish a certain task, for the time that I said I would. For example, if I tell myself that I will finish reading a book by the end of the month and I don't, I will feel as if I failed myself. If I don't finish something by the time a teacher or my coach wants me to, I will also feel disappointed. However, in both of these situations, I would push myself to the edge to go above and beyond what they had previously asked for. When they show that they are disappointed in me, it makes me want to go out and do something that will gain their respect back. It makes me motivated to go beyond what they asked for, even though I am beyond. For example, if I had a project that was past it's original due date, I would work as hard as I could to make that project amazing. I would put 110% of my effort into that work to make sure that I proved to my teacher that I could do what they wanted. Disappointment, as difficult as it can be to handle, pushes people to be their very best and to give their all into whatever they do.

Passion

Whenever I notice that someone has a passion or love for a certain subject, I get excited. I honestly can not wait for that person to share with me, why and how they love what they do. When someone contains that much love for something, their energy level goes through the roof and the conversation becomes extremely engaging. That passion is what drives an individual to put their all into the subject or field. They will give it all of their attention and attempt to share their love of it with others. I see this a lot almost everyday with my coaching. Me personally of course, I have a huge passion for skating; but my assistant coaches have some great amount of love for it as well. When they help me teach  younger children, i have noticed that the ones who help more frequently are the skaters that care more about the sport they are the skaters that put their all into what they do and practice practically every single day. Because of this, the students that they teach tend to be the skaters that excel on to higher levels than their peers. Not because their coaches were more "qualified", but because their coaches but more effort, love, and care into their teaching; showing the kids how truly fun skating can be when you are passionate about it. This doesn't simply apply to skating or teaching though, passion goes hand in hand with any other field that deals with leadership.

Stress

My life seems to be constantly filled with stress and stressful situations. Even if I am not put in a situation that someone would normally think would be stressful; it would be to me. I have anxiety, so I get anxiety attacks and sometimes even panic attacks. Due to this, everyday "normal" things can be the most difficult to me. I never like to use this as an excuse however, so I have found a couple things that help a little bit, when I need to calm down. Drawing or colouring is number one on this list. I like to be in control of what my pencil or pen does and it's calming for me to be able to create something purely on what I want. Since I colour and draw so much, I have a lot of artwork that needs to be organizing; leading into the second thing that calms me down, which is organizing. Now I know this might seem odd to many people, but organizing and cleaning makes me feel accomplished and in charge. It allows me to let go of all my other worries and something focus on whatever area I am organizing. The final activity that helps calm me down on rough days, is writing. Just as my art, it helps me escape reality and make up any situation or fantasy. From there I am able to let go of all of the stress in my life, even if it is just for an hour or so.

Being A Totem

I have lived in Aldergrove for the entirety of my live. I have been through a lot in this little town; loss, love, sacrifice, achieving. The list goes on. Seeing as I have been through so much in this community, I have always wanted to give it, as much as it as given me. Every day, I try to think of something that I can do, that will make some else's day better or easier. This year, I really wanted to focus on making that happening during the school day. I wanted to do this, as last year, almost every day for me, was a struggle. Not a lot of people were there for me, or really even tried to make me smile. There were and are, however, the select few throughout the school who are constantly checking in and wondering how I am. This to me, is being a Totem. Being a totem, is putting the good of others, before your well-being. Being a Totem, is wanting to make a change, no matter how small, in someone's life. Because no matter how small, that act will be loved and received. So, to me, being a Totem, is being selfless. Being a Totem, is making someone smile, or making a tough day easier. It is, being the joy and helpfulness that a person may simply need. Being a Totem, is being a friend.