Leaders of the Next Generation by Katie

Leaders of the Next Generation by Katie - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Many high school seniors look forward to college. We see it as a chance to be free. It is the first time we don’t have to listen to our parents and follow their rules. I know I can’t wait to be able to make decisions for myself and have my own schedule. But with this freedom comes responsibility. College is the first time in your life when you are completely on your own, you have to manage your own time, your own money, and stay on top of all your class work. There is no one there to remind you to talk to a teacher or do your homework. I have been accepted to my top school as an acting major. The December 2012 issue of Forbes magazine lists honesty, communication, confidence, commitment, and creativity as important leadership skills and they are all skills that are critical for college students to have.

All of these leadership traits will be major determining factors in how successful I am in college and I know they will be put to the test because for seventeen years, I have had an amazing mother who has done everything possible to help me. She makes my breakfast, helps me remember what I need to get done that day and if there are any teachers I need to talk to. College will be the first time in my life where I won’t have that. Many students when they go off to college go slightly crazy with all the freedom and it ends up greatly negatively impacting them.

Perhaps the most important skill from that list is honesty. Honesty is important in everything in life and for a college student it is very important to be honest with your professors, your peers, and most importantly yourself. Honesty and integrity go hand in hand and if you want to be respected you have to be honest. Being honest will earn you the respect of your friends, professors, and peers but being dishonest will lose that for you. As an acting major I have to make sure when I play a character that I am not only being honest to the character but to myself as a person.

Communication is a critical skill in college because you have to be able to effectively communicate with your professors and peers. You also have to be able to effectively communicate with your roommate. You will be living with someone you have most likely never met before and it is very important that you can communicate effectively with them so you aren’t driving each other crazy. Also, when working in a group on a project, communication becomes doubly important because everyone needs to know what the plan is and what their part in the group is. It is important that there is no miscommunication so the project gets done on time, as many college professors don’t accept late work.

As a college student and especially as an acting major it is very important for me to be confident. Confidence shows is your work and how you carry yourself. Confidence makes it possible to talk to a professor if you are having trouble in a class,go to the the tutoring area to get help, or talk with your enrollment adviser if you are struggling with your schedule. It also affects a how you interact with your peers. I used to be very shy but through my acting I have gained an enormous amount of confidence. This will also help me as an actress because no matter what you are doing when you are acting you have to be confident in yourself and your abilities. John C. Maxwell said in his book Leadership Gold, “Leadership is readiness to stand out in a crowd.” As an actress, being willing and able to ‘stand out in a crowd’, is something that is crucial not only to my college career but to the rest of my life.

As a college student it is critical to be committed, especially to your studies. College is expensive and not being committed for any reason can mean it will take one longer to graduate which means spending even more money on college. You have to be committed to working hard in your classes, keeping track of your graduation requirements, and maintaining good grades so you can graduate on time and keep all scholarship money you have earned. Luckily because of my major and my already committed personality I know this is one place in leadership in particular that I excel. At the moment I put over 15 hours a week into my acting which is a huge commitment, particularly for a high school student but I know this will help me in college.

Finally, creativity is an equally important part of leadership. A leader needs to be able to come up with creative solutions and a college student needs to stay creative and open minded in classes. As an acting major creativity is a huge part of my job and helping to ensure that I am portraying the part as realistically as possible and to the best of my ability.

The leadership skills a scholar learns and uses in college are the tools that help create the next generation of leaders.