The following is a self-evaluation of my top three skills.

I’m a go-getter. One summer I read 10,000 pages simply to increase my reading efficiency, challenge myself and gain knowledge. I finished all of my high school credits when I was a junior so I could graduate early. I taught myself how to ride the unicycle, paint, and play the ukulele. I’m constantly looking to take the initiative, which makes me an extremely ambitious and driven person.

I believe that taking the initiative is an essential building block for all endeavors. If you can’t take the initiative how are you going to be able to get things done and produce results? Things don’t happen for you. You make them happen.

Recently at my current job, In-N-Out, there was a new procedure that needed to be performed. I was selected by my manager to be trained in the new procedure. I then took the initiative to train other associates on how to perform the task with efficiency and safety.

Taking the initiative is a skill I use daily. A couple weeks ago I was reading the newspaper and happened to glance at an article about the record for the most money raised on Kickstarter. Because of my interest in entrepreneurship and innovation, it immediately caught my attention. I decided to send a quick email to the man featured in the piece. He replied to my email and I was able to learn some valuable strategies on how to run a successful Kickstarter campaign, network, and potentially even have him come to speak at an entrepreneurship event I’m organizing, all because I took initiative.

As a conference junky, I’m not afraid to jump up and talk to speakers, to engage with others, reach out for advice or to exchange business cards. One particularly notable time I took the initiative was at an FEE conference (Foundation for Economic Education) where T.K. Coleman was speaking. After the lecture, I took the initiative and talked to him. That conversation led to an email exchange. Which resulted in a mentoring relationship. And almost a year later I’m now enrolled in his startup Praxis. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t taken the initiative.

Being the second youngest in my family, I can’t remember a time when my older siblings were not involved in speech and debate. When I was 11 or so I entered my first speech competition – it didn’t go too well. However, the outcome of my attempt didn’t discourage me and I continued to pursue public speaking for the rest of my high school years. I’ve gained a multitude of invaluable skills, being able to communicate efficiently, think critically, and research thoroughly.

I was involved with the American Legion Auxiliary, Mock Trial, Youth Court, NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association), Constitution Bee, FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), Girls State, and DECA– basically any and every extracurricular you can imagine.  Most of these activities involved public speaking. In speech and debate, I become a state champion, was in the top 3% of debaters. I was also one of just two students representing our school on the national circuit for 3 years.

How has public speaking aided me in creating value and growing outside of high school? I’ve taken my skills and implemented them in the real world. I gave a TEDx talk when I was 16 about a topic I was passionate about, why teenagers aren’t reaching their full potential. Shortly after that speech, I was invited to give the same talk at a school, which was met with smashing success. Then just this past summer I presented as a guest speaker at a conference.

My skill as a public speaker has helped me become professional and coherent. I’m able to present my ideas in a direct and easy to understand format. It’s taught me to think on my feet, articulate my ideas, and empower my dreams. I’ve taken the initiative to spend the most time on this skill than on any other skill, estimating somewhere around 500 hours.

It’s the exception rather than the rule that things go according to plan. Which is why being able to adapt is so important. To me, adaptability means being able to evaluate different perspectives, modify and adjust to your circumstance.

I’m constantly adapting. One of my favorite examples of this skill is how I adapted the way I cook spaghetti. I’ve always found cooking spaghetti to be frustrating because I’m stuck with two options, use a massive pot and heat up a ton of water to fully immerse the noodles,(to avoid breaking them) or use a smaller pot and try to unsuccessfully bend or break all of the noodles so they are underwater (which often resulted in them cooking together).

I modified the way I cooked spaghetti to solve both of those problems. My solution, a glass cylinder where you can put your noodles, pour boiling water over them and let it sit there and cook. Maybe to your surprise, this idea actually worked. Problem-solving and adapting are in my nature.

I use Uber and Lyft quite often, primarily as transportation to and from work, and occasionally to meet up with friends. As I was looking over my budget I was shocked to find that I had spent 385$ on transportation over three months. I quickly made a plan to adapt and set a goal to cut my Ubering down to only two times a week. This required a lot of planning and scheduling. In the end, I was able to cut my transportation costs into a quarter of what they originally were.

In the variety of environments I’ve been in, from leading in extracurriculars to planning events and working with the administration, I’ve been able to take on the undelegated role of adapting and create more efficient and successful systems.