STEM Career Fair Reflective Essay

I was always a little bit afraid of being a leader. All through my freshman and sophomore year I didn't join a lot of clubs and didn't run for class office. I didn't want the flashy title and I resented that those titles seemed necessary to get me into college. It kind of became a norm for me to avoid school activities and I focused instead on my community at ballet, thinking that it was fulfilling enough.

I owe it to my little sister. She wanted to join the STEM club and only because I had to drive her to school early anyway, I came along to that first meeting too. And even at first, I didn't feel a burning passion for what we were doing. The STEM Career Fair was half a year away, and we were still in the intangible phases of brainstorming and planning. The STEM club was just

Two weeks before the fair, the mountain of unchecked to-do items was a glaring reminder that we were far behind schedule. I turned around one day, and suddenly I was in charge. Suddenly I was the person who everyone asked questions, and I had to have answers. I had to know what had to be done and tell everyone to do it. I was responsible for making sure that when May 17th rolled around, we were ready. I didn't know what to do, but I was going to have to improvise.

The night before the STEM Fair, I obsessed over the details and imagined countless what-if scenarios. As I walked the halls at school the next day, I imagined the walls lined with booths from universities, research labs, and after school programs. I imagined the science lab transformed into a presentation room with white tablecloths and red flowers on a table, ready for the panelists to speak. I imagined the people from all around the district, milling around and excited to see what the fair had to offer. I itched to get started, and the moment the bell rang, I practically skipped out of 6th