How JROTC Enhanced My Emotional Intelligence

As a society, we place a huge importance on using our heads over our hearts. In other words, we are taught to keep our emotions in check and not wear our feelings on our sleeves but rather think logically and reasonably before doing anything in life. While this may be helpful in certain aspects of our lives, for the most part, this mentality has made our society emotionally inept by making us unable to recognize and properly deal with our emotions and interpersonal relationships. Simply put, most put their brains above their hearts rather than working with both equally and as a result, we have become less emotionally intelligent. Steven Redhead once said, ¨Achieve balance through the combined conscious states of the heart and mind. Redhead´s words relate back to the idea of emotional intelligence, the ability to understand; express your emotions and be able to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathically. When being emotionally intelligent you use your mind to analyze the situation and figure out the best course of action and you use your heart to react the proper way and express things properly.

Putting yourself in someone else's shoes and thinking before reacting is examples of being emotionally intelligent. Being emotionally intelligent is not only extremely important in your social life but your professional life as well. For example, if I am teaching or instructing the let I¨s but they are not paying attention and having side conversations I will not automatically lash out but instead, I will take a step back and think about how I should react before I do something brash and act unprofessionally. Being in the JROTC program has allowed me to become more emotionally intelligent because as a result of being in a leadership position I have learned how to control my emotions and express them when necessary. The JROTC program at Waukegan High School has allowed me to not only strengthen but improve all of my emotional skills which improve my overall emotional intelligence.

At the start of this year, my social skills were not up to par with the other four emotional skills. I would try and communicate as little as possible and when conflicts arose I was not prepared to solve them. Now I can confidently say that my social skills are one of my highest emotional skills. Whereas in the past I would try to avoid communicating with my peers as often as possible now, I put myself out there and communicate with everyone as much as possible by asking for their opinions and feedback to improve the company as a whole. Whereas in the past I would shy away from any conflicts that arose because I wasn't sure how to solve them now, I step up as a leader and diffuse the problem before it escalates. Emotional intelligence can be a key to success in life not only as a successful leader but a well-rounded citizen. Being aware of the emotional skills that make up emotional intelligence as a whole and being willing to change and improve them not only for the betterment of yourself but others around you as well can help you become a good citizen because you are not only improving your quality of life but the life of those that surround you too. Jack Welch once stated, ¨No doubt emotional intelligence is more rare than book smarts, but my experience says it is actually more important in the making of a leader. You just can't ignore it. ¨ No matter how intelligent you might be you won't get very far in life if you are not able to connect with people correctly.

Your intellect and emotions function together. You should always follow your heart and take into account what your brain has to say. Being emotionally intelligent not only helps you improve as a leader but it also helps you become an active member and citizen of your society. Waukegan High School´s JROTC program has greatly contributed to improving all five of my emotional skills and aiding me in the process of becoming a great leader, citizen, and above all else a better human being.