<p>This is my extracurricular elaboration. any suggestions would be awesome.</p>
<p>Odyssey of the mind, an international creative problem-solving competition, was a test for my collaborative abilities. Initially, our diverse team of five did not work well together. Eventually, I came to understand that our differences translated into complementary strengths, and our team flourished. Our task was to design, build, and run one or more vehicles that used mousetraps as their only source of energy. I learned that the combination of everyones ideas and skills could create a more successful product and that sometimes sacrificing my own opinions was for the greater good. My artistic and constructive skills were capitalized upon and my leadership capacity was greatly improved. I ran meetings and was the first to deal with sudden problems. Six months of commitment and long hours paid off when we advanced to the state contest, and finished in fourth place. Odyssey of the mind taught me that collaboration is a critical advantage to a team, creating unexpected friendships along the way.</p>