Proofread my NJHS Essay?

This is my NJHS Essay. Please proofread it and give me any suggestions on things i should add, remove or change. Thank you. Also, the requirements said 150 words or less, but this essay is about 250 words. Should i cut back on the word count or is it fine? Anyway, here it is.

The National Junior Honor Society is a very prestigious organization that I would love to be a part of. I am proud as well as highly honored to be a candidate. The reason the world is the way it is today is because of the people who share their qualities and characteristics.

I hope to be accepted into the National Junior Honor Society so that I can improve my leadership skills as well as my ability to speak out and raise awareness to problems in our society. It would also be a fantastic learning experience because I could learn from my peers and my peers could learn from me.

I feel that I deserve to be accepted into the National Junior Honor Society because I am responsible, dedicated, caring and considerate. An example that shows I am responsible is that I always turn in my homework or schoolwork on time and completely finished. What shows I am dedicated is that I work diligently to keep my grades up and I work until a job is done. I am caring because I volunteer at my local Salvation Army family thrift store. The Salvation Army’s mission is “To feed, to clothe, to comfort, and to care”. An example that shows my consideration is when I volunteered for the Patient Remembrance Service at Roswell Cancer Institute, a service dedicated to remembering loved ones lost to cancer.

Thank you for reading my essay and I hope you consider choosing me as a National Junior Honor Society member.