My most difficult challenge

During high school, I was in a fashion class. My freshman year, I learned to sew one button properly. My sophomore, I learned to hand stitch a catch hem. My junior year, I competed in my first solo fashion competition. But my senior year, I faced my hardest challenge of all. I was given the opportunity to produce a district wide fashion show. To this day, nothing has given me more grief, and nothing has been more eye-opening. 

The reason this project was the most difficult for me was because of the amount of planning and responsibility that was given to me. I had to work with my peers. I had to organize garment pieces in order. I had to find models. I had to find companies that would sponsor our expenses. I had to work with real small-town designers. I spent most of my time in class working on my own pieces to display in the show while simultaneously checking in with my classmates and their progress. Considering it was a district wide show, I was also in contact with the other high schools, and because I am a person that needs to see progress, I was never satisfied with what the other schools were telling me because I never saw what they were doing until the day before the show during dress rehearsal. It seemed as if I was always flustered and stressed. In a short span of two months, I became a DJ, a manager, a liaison, a mentor, and an event planner. 

The reason I was able to manage this challenge without breaking down is solely on the help of my peers. They were so willing to help me with anything and everything. Although I took much of the work upon myself, it was extremely helpful not having to worry about the little things. I was also asked to mentor younger fashion students to pass down the responsibility for the years to come. I asked others to take care of some things for me, but I always made sure to check up with them, and I always made sure it was done the way I expected because at the end of the day, anything that went wrong would be put on me.   

From this experience, I learned that you can not do everything yourself. Taking on too much responsibility will ultimately deteriorate you sooner or later. Group work is extremely important in the "real world", and I am grateful to have been given a glimpse of it as a senior. Today, I look back on this experience and realize that this is where I became a true leader for the first time. I learned more about myself in two months than I had almost all of high school. If I were to give advice to someone, I would strongly recommend taking on a role like this one and learn about yourself in the process.