Anti-Following by Gary

Anti-Following by Gary - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

The good thing about college and being on a college campus is the melting pot of backgrounds, ethnicities, interests, and influences all in one micro community. College can be a place where one can "find themselves" or discover their passion. On the flip side college can expose a student to unforeseen things. It would be a complete misrepresentation to describe college as a field of lovely roses, innocence, and bliss, because at times that is not the case. There will be instances where your social life and academic life tug at each other, influences and temptations that appeal to your senses or financial difficulties that make decisions hard. The question then is how do you deal?

The answer is you have to be strong enough not to be a follower. This competition posed the question: Are leadership skills necessary for college success? The first thing I would need to know to give an accurate answer is the definition of college success. Is success defined by grades, contacts made, leadership roles, or a job offer? For the purposes of this essay I will assume we are talking about the aggregate of all of these things. The best thing a student could do is not be like everyone else. In denying the mob mentality a student can free his or her mind to prioritize things that they consider important. Discipline, punctuality, curiousness I feel are skills essential in getting the most out of your college experience. I do not believe being a leader is necessary to be successful but it can be an add-on. Leadership is a skill that amplifies those previously mentioned skills. Being a leader implies that you have followers and that you are not guiding yourself to a brighter future but also others. The only thing better than becoming successful is helping someone else achieve success as well.