From Girly Girl to Trailblazer: My Journey in Leadership by Emily

From Girly Girl to Trailblazer: My Journey in Leadership by Emily - August 2025 Scholarship Essay

My aspirations for the upcoming school year will be to continue with The William S. Hart Trails Management team. Being on the Trails Management team for the past two summers has been an incredible experience for me. I started this role as a “girly girl”, and quickly realized I love the outdoors! My role was to work on a 30 person crew to create and maintain hiking trails in and around my city. As a leader of my crew, I quickly learned how challenging it can be to work with a large team. Luckily my experience with club and high school soccer kicked in and I was able to organize, and delegate roles to my teammates each day for effective trail management. Leadership to me means clearly defining the task at hand, quickly assessing the skills each team member has, and implementing a plan for the day where the work is done efficiently to ensure each team member is equipped with the tools they need so we all reap the benefits at the end of the project. Each morning before our crew arrived, I analyzed the area of the city we were working on that day. I gathered the appropriate equipment needed, and worked with the other trail leaders to load the trucks for the day. Once our crew arrived, we organized a morning meeting, and included safety first, location details, and our task for the day. On one particular day, we were headed to an area that was particularly remote. This day required extra planning on my part as a leader. I spent the prior evening analyzing the area on a map, and quickly realized we needed extra support. Because the area was in the Angeles National Forest, I knew we were going to need extra help in planning this trip. I reached out to my adult leader, and expressed my concerns about the location. We were able to put together a safety plan that included a Ham radio with a direct connection to the Los Angeles Fire Department, and local Sheriff offices. This experience of planning safety rules and regulations for the next day, taught me so much about leadership and myself. I learned how to analyze a task, plan with an adult to ensure everyone’s safety, and have fun doing it. I learned that I have great research skills! Planning a day like this took hours of research. I found it fun but also informative! I had never heard of a Ham radio before, and quickly learned it is a life saving tool if you are in a remote location. My adult leader gave me the tools needed to research this and implement it into our crew. Because of this experience, I KNOW I am capable and excited to put this into work in my future! I love learning new things, and this experience has been life changing for me. Going forward into college, I will look back on this experience, and know I have the skills and confidence to research any topic and find the answers! My motivation comes from seeing my co team members work hard, achieve a goal, and award each other for our hard work.