Followers Becoming Leaders by Christopher

Followers Becoming Leaders by Christopher - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

As a trumpet player and previous section leader for my high school of multiple years, I watched how the role I possessed became more than just a part to be played. I didn't just represent a portion of my musical section. I was accredited with the identity of a non-drum major who played and directed what happened out on the field and in the rehearsal room. My musical talent with composition soon landed me at Ball State University. I was a unique case because I didn't make it due to my performance skills on trumpet, my main instrument, but with my composition skills on piano. It was the versatility of my musical aptitude and the leadership skills that I learned through Peru High School Band that led me to successfully getting into the college of my choice. Leadership isn't for everyone. That must be where the term "Follow the Leader" comes from. I believe it is not that followers are not good enough to lead on their own, but that they require some inspiration to get them into the mindset of a leader. Working McDonald's for nearly four years now I have learned how important a worker that knows all the positions becomes useful. Some days get extremely hectic and it is required to man multiple positions at the same time in order to keep the Big Macs moving. Through my leadership skills used in the fast food business I realized how important a college education is to me and that if it was not for my leadership skills, I would not be as motivated as I am to do good in all that I do, especially in my education.

Surviving my freshman year of college with a double major in Music Composition and Magazine Journalism has definitely kept food on my metaphorical stress plate. With less than two months left in my first year I am still learning each and everyday what to take away from my classes. Sometimes I feel it is not the course material at all that is needed to be sponged away from all the note-taking. Sometimes there are life lessons you must learn like deciding not to do a paper for a class to catch up in another or drop one of the classes entirely just to keep yourself afloat in the rest of your curriculum. These are decisions not easily made by followers but more so by leaders. A follower would wait until it was too late to act upon the crisis. A leader preemptively seeks out these situations and works to resolve them before they have a chance to begin.

My second semester kicked off with a competition Ball State Jazz Band hosts for varying high schools. Entitled Dimensions, the competition for the best high school jazz bands required the use of nearly all our performance halls. A friend of mine and I were instructed to rig up sound for an entire auditorium. This was no easy task, especially for only two band geeks. We hardly knew anything about sound sets. With nearly twenty thousand dollars in sound equipment to work with, we were about to learn extremely fast and well. Our director also made us in charge of running scores and scorecards across all the performances within the hall we set up sound for. He must have seen the leadership in our personalities. We even managed to catch a score card mistake that would have tainted the whole judging process. It felt good to have that sort of responsibility. By the end of the day we were in the limelight shining from our personal band director and head director. Proper leadership skills gave me the ability to stand up and act when I was called upon.

Harnessing all these lessons acquired from these situations has only led to success for me. The only thing we can do is be on our guard and prepare for what is to come by standing tall and letting our inner leader shine bright.