Be a leader, not a follower by Ja'keeta

Be a leader, not a follower by Ja'keeta - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my life, I have met many people who have influenced me greatly. My family, my friends, my teachers, and my community have each made a significant impact on my life so far and I know their impact will last me throughout my educational career and for the rest of my life. I have found that two people, out of everyone I know, have influenced me in the most significant ways. Those two people are the people who raised me.
My mom and dad have influenced me in many aspects of my life, such as my educational career, my life outside of the classroom, my world, and my future. I know they will keep on influencing me. My parents grew up very differently, lived in different communities with different expectations, but they both turned out like their families expected them to.
My moms, parents encouraged her to be smart and to strive to achieve success because of her city’s excellent educational system and her parents’ expectations; there was no question as to whether she was going to pursue her dreams. My dads, parents didn’t question whether they would send him and his siblings in the Chicago Public School system and in the community college system to start them off right.
My parents have raised me in the same way. I was raised from birth with high expectations and high motivation to achieve success. Throughout my life my parents have talked to me about my future. They always stressed the importance of education, and how to grow up to be a strong and independent young lady. They would talk about how I had the potential to become an amazing leader someday. My family has a motto, “be a leader, not a follower.” I hope to stay true to this motto for the rest of my life.
In order to encourage leadership, my parents have sent me to a leadership cotillion in order to expand my current world. I participated in the 2011 cotillion committee “God’s Ladies of Elegance” sponsored by St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church Cathedral, my church, held in Orland Park, Illinois. This was during the summer before I started third grade and I was nominated by Beverly Nixon, Eva Robinson, and Versie Hall (committee chairpersons) to participate in the cotillion.
During those years I’ve been in middle school, my family thought it would be wise to inform me on current political and world news, so I could get a sense as to how the real world works. We often have discussions over dinner and give our opinions on different news stories. I feel the more this has become a regular routine; the more I’m becoming aware of the real world around me.
In addition to discussing the world on a larger scale, my parents have each encouraged me to experience new things and to try a few extracurricular activities.
Currently, I play the drums and was the captain of the Drumline team at Medgar Evers Fine and Performing Arts elementary school; I also play tennis, participated in cross country runs, and enjoy praise dancing. I’ve been doing each for a very long time, now. What I love about my situation is that my parents never forced me to do anything. They encouraged me to try new things, but also gave me the option to drop out if I wasn't know longer interested in them, such as hip-hop.
My parents are also thrilled to support me in my writing endeavors. Writing is a hobby of mine that I enjoy very much. I love to write stories, ideas and have it produced for live television to the best of my ability for Green Screen Adventures TV, Channel 26, The U. I hope to follow in both of my parents’ footsteps by continually reaching for my God given potential.
Every summer, my family visits the museums, go to the zoos with my little twin cousins, or just take a trip down to the beach for a day. I experience new things all the time because my parents want to expose us to the world.
My parents are my support system, my rock, my world! Whether it’s comforting me after a stressful day or just to cheer me on at a school assembly, I can always rely on my mom and dad to be there for me. They encourage me to try so many new different things and to strive to be the best, all without expecting much in return. Of course, my parents influenced me. All parents influence their children to some extent, whether good or bad. I feel that I’m very lucky to have incredible parents who are amazing role models and care deeply and love me. Every day, they make me feel like I was their number one priority. My parents have taught me so much about how to respect and to lead the world and the people around me, and how they have motivated me to do what’s right and to stand up for what I believe in at all times. I know I don’t thank my parents on a daily basis for being who they are and respecting who I am, and I want to make it a top priority for myself to recognize who and what my greatest influences do for me and how they’ve impacted my life, for the rest of life, so help me God.