Growing up, I always wanted to be an outgoing person because I thought that was the way I should be. I was always attracted to the1 that bigger personalities could achieve more. So I connected outgoingness with2 .
However, I started3 the idea that outgoingness would help me achieve more when my skills as a leader were put to the4 .
When I was 16, I volunteered at a summer camp for a week, where I led 12 fifth graders. Although I5 to solve problems as they came up, it seemed there was always another6 following.
Every night, I was supposed to read bedtime stories. But on Thursday when my campers were getting7 bed, things reached a boiling point when one camper accused (指责) another of ruining the camp. After I called in a teacher, our small wooden house was finally8 . But the hidden anger made me realize that my campers' experience would become less9 if I left things unsolved.
10 reading stories that night, I decided to11 a good memory that I had of each of my campers. After that, I12 my campers to describe their own memories. Watching the atmosphere (气氛) in our house13 as they described the good moments in the week gave me the feeling that14 my own ways to be a leader could be good enough.
The experience made me realize that I should grow in my own15 rather than forcing myself into a type that never really fit.
