A leadership experience where I have positively influenced others was leading a spring project for community assistance in Vietnam. The aim of the project was to support people in need during Tet—a meaningful occasion for family gathering. We partnered with a nearby orphanage, where 50 children under the age of 15 were brought up.
The project comprised only 20 people, while the work had to be done within about a month, so I, as a leader, created plans and assigned tasks for the team. To begin with, I divided the group into 2 teams and announced deadlines to avoid late work. The first group was about to write posts to promote our project on online platforms. The other one gained donations, including money and school materials. After weeks, we got approximately 5,000,000 VND (about 116 USD), 35 textbooks, 100 notebooks, about a hundred pencils, erasers, and rulers, and 5 boxes of snacks as well as candies.
In the discussion step, with the amount of money received, all decided to purchase rice and milk because they were both necessary products. However, some people opined that rice was so more significant than milk, so milk could be from a less qualified brand. Faced with a difficult decision, I prioritized keeping our project on track despite the disagreements among members. To prevent further delays, I took initiative and made a well-researched, budget-conscious decision: allocating 70% of the funds to rice and 30% to a high-quality milk brand, ensuring we maintained both nutritional value and cost-effectiveness.
On the day of the visit, it was a sunny Saturday morning. We rode 5 motorcycles carrying goods. We met well-behaved kids, and we all joined a small English lesson that the team had prepared. They enjoyed it and seemed passionate about the English language subject. We felt so grateful to inspire them to seek education.
This visit left a strong impression not only on me but also on all group members. Through this experience, I saw my responsibility, time management, organization, and problem-solving skills at work, motivating me for more outreach activities.