Leadership? College? Life? Got it! by Katelyn

Leadership? College? Life? Got it! by Katelyn - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

In college, you are asked to do many things. Get good grades, be creative and innovative in your essays and thinking, and discover how to think from different views and outlooks. But do any of these things actually require leadership skills? The answer is simply, no. But the more important question is, is leadership required for college success?

The purpose of college is for you to get a degree in your selected field and have the skills necessary to make a life of that field. Now while leadership skills are not necessary for simply making it through college, when you take into account that college is meant to prepare you for life after college, they are very necessary for college success.

Now wait a minute, you may be thinking, my degree or future career doesn’t require me to have any leadership skills at all. Why do I need leadership skills? To understand why leadership skills are necessary in some amount in any career field, we must first define leadership.

When many people picture this concept, they think a lone man in a black suit and tie, calmly and sternly directing large masses of people to his every order from the top of his penthouse suite. Or maybe they see a woman standing at the front of a podium directing and making decisions in international negations that will affect the lives of millions. This large over blown version of leadership is highly misconstrued.

The definition of leadership is actually a very hard thing to define. The dictionary will tell you it’s the action of leading a group or organization. Or the state or position of being a leader. But the reality of it is that it’s not that simple. Many high powered business men and women don’t just define leadership as just being in a state or position of a leader, or in a position of power and influence. They describe a leader as someone who motivates those around them with a vision and has the courage to work towards that vision, someone who is not afraid to take risks to achieve that goal. Someone who teaches, listens, and serves those around them for a greater good or goal.

Now if we go from this definition of leadership, you will see that leadership skills are very necessary for success, in and outside of college. If you are able to motivate others around you and have the same dedication and vision as your employers, you will become a valuable asset. In college, the ability to provide this vision and leadership will open many windows of opportunity for you. Maybe an employer will like the fact that you lead various sessions or groups in college, or that you took a tutoring job, or decided to serve others and participated or started your own drive for a specific need in your area. Your professors will admire these qualities and since they are the heads of their fields they are the best kind of people you can impress and get recommendations from. It’s no good if your college professors say that you may have been the smartest student on campus, but you failed to actually do anything to achieve a goal with those around you.

The world is looking for people to lead. People to lead a future, to make the world a better place, to influence those around us for the better and create a desire to help those around us. This is what leadership is. And this is what college is preparing you for. To lead the future in our degrees, in our careers, and in our professions. Each and every college student is a future leader of his career. It is of the utmost importance that they have the leadership skills to bring their field into an ever changing and new world.