Follow the Leader/Lead the Follower by Kiva

Follow the Leader/Lead the Follower by Kiva - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Debate team leader, captain of the football team, student body president… these are all important leadership roles at your school. Today, colleges put a huge emphasis on their students expressing leadership qualities. However, it is unfair to say that to succeed in college, you must be a leader. While every person must be held responsible for themselves and their actions, it is not necessary to have leadership skills to succeed in college.

There are two types of people: leaders and followers. Consider your class president. They must have exceptional leadership abilities to be responsible for the entire class. They must listen to the class, identify the class’s needs and wants, create a plan to achieve those needs and wants, and execute that plan. They hold a lot a responsibility, and are answerable to the people. They are organized, compassionate, eloquent, and proactive. These qualities certainly will help them succeed in college. Using these qualities, they will most likely be able to adjust well to college, stay on top of their learning, and become involved with campus life. They are the people you expect to succeed, and while they often do, they are not the only ones who will succeed.

Followers can also succeed in college. While the word follower has a negative connotation, being a follower is not an inherently bad thing. For example, a follower could be a member of the cheerleading squad. She has joined the squad, and functions by showing up to practice on time, memorizing the cheers, and supporting the captain. While she may not seem to have any particularly noticeable aspects, you would notice if she was not there. She is responsible for herself, and for making her own contribution to the squad, however small. Without her, the cheers would be off, the pyramid would not have a sufficient number of people, and the squad would not function as it should. While followers may not standout, without them, things would not work properly. Followers are the majority of people. While they may not be leaders, they have other talents and values. They provide the leaders with support and direction. They, too, can succeed in college as long as work hard in their schoolwork, participate in campus activities, and give direction to the leaders by making their voices heard.

Each person has their own talent or ability at which they excel. Some people have the ability to take charge of things, while others are simply content to let others lead. While you must be responsible for yourself, it is not necessary to be an outstanding leader. To succeed in college, you must be able to work hard, interact with others, and hold yourself accountable for your actions. While have leadership abilities will certainly help you succeed, they are not a requirement. Anyone can succeed in college as long as they are willing to work at it.