Key Skills
The purpose of this section is to provide an idea of some of the skills that I can offer to a work place. I provided five skills that I feel I excel at. However, I always look for ways to grow and develop my skills above and beyond what I already acquire. Some of the skills I will be talking about are organizational, creativity, leadership, public speaking, and teaching.
Organization Skill
Have good organizational skills can be vital in many jobs. It is the ability to go into a situation and see what needs to be done to run better and more efficiently. A person with good organizational skills has the ability to plan events, complete projects, run an office, etc. and understands what needs to be work together to make that successful. The picture to the left is the setting up of a event I planned. It was a summer program for children through Celebration Christian Center. In this event I had to organize volunteers, gather supplies, plan events, advertise, and much more. The event was a great experience for me and I feel confident to plan more events in the future.
Creativity
Creativity is hard to define. For me creativity is the ability to think outside the box. I have always been a creative person, and not just because art was my favorite subject in school. Creativity goes beyond arts and crafts, it can be the ability to think outside the box. A creative person can look at a problem and think of solutions that most people would not recognize. It is being imaginative and resourceful. My creative skill was put to use recently when I was faced with the problem of raising funds. I needed to raise money for children from families who couldn't afford to attend summer camp. Using my creative juices I decided to do a bake sale. This was not a normal bake sale however. We made giant cookies in a assortment of flavors and individually wrapped them and package them in an appealing way. In an effort to make more money at this bake sale then normal bake sale I decided not to set a price for these cookies. Instead we simply asked for donations. In the end we sold 120 large size cookies and make a profit of almost $700 dollars. A little creativity goes a long way.
Leadership
There are many definitions of leadership. I view leadership as the ability to take charge, make decisions, and have the ability to motivate and inspire those under you. I also think it is very important to lead by example. I have always considered myself a leader. Even at a young age I found myself taking charge of my group of friends. In the sports I played throughout junior high and high school I always ended up the team captain. Although working in leadership is hard I thrive in it. As a leader I seek to lead by example. To the right is a picture of myself at a summer camp in Prescott Arizona. I took a group of thirty children and six adults to this camp. This group of people relied on me to lead them there and make decisions. I had adults who were much older them me who still looked to me to make the decisions and lead the group. It was a good opportunity to practice my leadership skills.
Public Speaking
Public speaking is delivering a speech in front of an audience. There are many different forms of public speaking and it can range from a formal speech, like the State of the Union address, to informal like talking in a group of friends. A proficient public speaker has the ability to convey their purpose in a captivating and understandable way. I enjoy public speaking and have had a good amount of experience. To sharpen my public speaking skills I took a public speaking class. In this class we had to craft and deliver several types of speeches including, informative, persuasive, invitational, and impromtu speeches. This class equipped with the tools to be a successful public speaker. I have attached a document with some of the elements of structuring a good speech that I learned in this class and that I continue to follow.
Teaching
Teaching is the ability to impart knowledge to someone else. Although my degree is not in education I consider myself to be a teacher at heart. I have a good understanding of how to teach things in an understandable way. This is very important in my current job. Working with children has given me great experience using my teaching skills. I like to teach children in a variety of ways. Sometimes I will teach children by example, sometimes I will teach them in a hands activity, sometimes I will teach using a puppet or visual aid. Here is a picture of me teaching the children a lesson through a skit. I wrote a script and acted it out with a volunteer.