Necessary Leadership Skills for College Success by Alyssa

Necessary Leadership Skills for College Success by Alyssa - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leadership skills are essential for success in college. While a student may be able to barely finish college with a passing grade without using leadership skills, that student has not really reached their full potential. Additionally, it is arguable that they really did not learn what they needed to learn in those college classes. Skills that leaders possess that contribute greatly to college success are honesty, communication, and the ability to learn.

Honesty is the cornerstone of all leadership skills. If a person is not honest, they cannot truly embody all the other leadership skills that lead to college success. Additionally, honesty is important because if a student lies and cheats on their work than the work is not really theirs and no one wants a leader who hides the truth from them. This also could end up hurting the student’s college career if they get caught because it is probable that he would be expelled from the college. Finally, if the student’s work is not really his own than he really was not successful in college at all in and of himself.

Communication is another big factor in having a successful college experience because without good communication problems will inherently arise. One aspect in which this occurs is when a student fails to understand an instruction that the professor stated. Without using his communication skills by asking the professor a question, he will not be able to correctly complete the assignment. Furthermore, communication skills are necessary because oftentimes students must enroll in speech classes or other such classes in which presenting a speech is required. Without this key skill, a leader would hardly be a leader at all. In order to lead others, one must encompass the ability to relay information clearly to those individuals.

Finally, the ability to learn from others is a big factor for success in both leadership and college. The purpose of earning a college degree is to learn pertinent information to the student’s degree. If a student is unable to learn from the professor and even from other students trying to help him learn, he will miss an opportunity to learn and as a result not be able to perform to the best of his ability. Leaders all have their own strengths and weaknesses. In order to improve upon the areas in which they are weak, those leaders must also have the ability to learn from others and their own mistakes.

In conclusion, leadership skills are a necessity for all college students to have in order to succeed in college. Students who are characterized by these skills will undoubtedly do much better in college and struggle with classes less because of the support they receive through their skills. Because honesty, communication, and the ability to learn are essential to college success, students should work towards obtaining such skills.