To Lead, or not to Lead? by Emma

Emmaof Grand Rapids's entry into Varsity Tutor's March 2015 scholarship contest

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Emma of Grand Rapids, MI
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To Lead, or not to Lead? by Emma - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

The thousand dollar question, “are leadership skills necessary for college success?” To answer this question, I will begin by asking two separate questions. Do you need to be a leader to be successful in college? And, are the skills that are embodied through leadership necessary for college success? These two questions may look quite similar, but they are actually asking two incredibly unique things.

To begin, I will start by looking at the question, “do you need to be a leader to be successful in college?” Many people in life will try and convince others that leaders are superior and we must all strive to be leaders. However, to be a leader makes you no more successful than a follower, after all, the world would not function if we only had leaders. For society to run we must have leaders and we must also have followers. The leaders help guide the tasks of a group, but it is the masses of followers that follow out the plans of a leader. The task of being a leader is not necessary for success in college.

Coming away from that question, what I believe this question is really asking is, “are the attributes of a leader necessary for success in college?” My answer to this simple question, is simply yes. When I think of a leader, I think of someone who embodies traits such as being respectful, responsible, flexible, confident and aware of others. To be successful in college you must have these traits. You must be respectful to those who you attend classes with, because you never know when you will encounter them in the future. You must be responsible to complete your work on time and study as needed. You must be flexible to work around your wants to complete what is needed for school.

To be a leader is not the key to success in college, but, to embody some of the key characteristics of a leader are what is needed. You will never find success in life attempting to be something you are not. Living a life to the best of your capabilities is when success is truly attainable.

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