Induction into the National Honor Society validates the academic goals that I have worked extremely hard to achieve thus far. Membership would not only help me maintain my academic performance, but would also help me achieve other goals in my academic career. Being accepted into the NHS was a priority I set for myself at college, so having this opportunity means a lot to me personally. The four principles of the National Honor Society are leadership, service, character and scholarship. I feel that I exemplify these principles in my daily life in a way that pleases not only myself, but also those around me. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To me, leadership is having the ability to show pride in everything you do with a certain group or team. You need to set an example for those around you and show how much you care about something to be a leader. This focus, mentality, and confidence are essential to reaching your personal potential and showing others that you are ready to create a path that allows them to do the same. In my life, I have experienced situations where those around me had lost hope and I had to speak out about it. During a basketball game a few months ago, my team was losing badly and all of my teammates didn't even want to be there anymore because of the magnitude of our loss. I realized that I had to take control in my own hands and use this opportunity to uplift my teammates by giving them a little motivation to feel better about themselves. I use the same confidence and mentality from this game in my daily life when I do something that I know may not end well. To be a leader, you must recognize the situation and trust that you will achieve the desired result as long as you put your mind to whatever you are doing. Helping people in need and making them smile. their faces must be one of the best feelings in the world for me. The next principle is service. For me, serving means helping a person, a family, an association or a group and helping them reach a point in their life where they are happy and satisfied. I volunteer for a group outside of school called Scholars and Athletes Serving Others, SASO for short. In this group we organize various events which include helping people in need and putting a smile on their face. It's a very comforting feeling when you go to a volunteer event and the kids ask you for help and you can just talk to them. The service is a free way to do work and help the community, and overall, feel good about yourself while helping. The next principle is character. From my point of view, to have character, you have to really believe in yourself and not get caught up in what others do. Sure, people will make fun of you if you do something that others might find unusual or weird, but to be honest, who cares? You have to be yourself and not let others shape you into character. I do some things in my life that my friends find weird, but I don't let it affect me in any way because I have character. Sometimes it's okay to follow the crowd, but sometimes what others are doing may not seem right to you and you need to be aware of that and do the right thing. Trusting yourself and letting your feelings and knowledge shape you when making decisions will have a great.