Personal Leadership Matters by Laura

Personal Leadership Matters by Laura - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Strong leadership qualities are beneficial in countless situations, and an important one would be throughout one’s college experience. Most often, being a leader is put into the context of guiding a group of people. Although that is the case in certain situations, being a leader may also mean seizing one’s own life, and choosing to step up to the challenges to be faced; it means throwing out the careless and negative attributes of oneself, and opting for the more responsible ones. One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a leader is integrity. Many hopeful people would say they have integrity, and yet they may not know exactly what all that entails. Someone who has this quality is honest and honorable to those they come into contact with, certainly, but what truly qualifies someone as having integrity is in what they decide is right and moral to do, even when they are without company. Leadership should include integrity, even when those being led are absent. One cannot simply decide to become a leader only when people are around and watching.

So while integrity is one characteristic of a good leader, another would be confidence. Someone who is secure in their own moral beliefs is a much more effective leader than one who cannot hold fast to their ideologies under the pressure of judgment. What would be the point of believing in something if one could be swayed so easily? That is not to say that a leader cannot admit to being wrong, because that would not be confidence but rather self-righteousness, which leads to the last important trait of a leader, maturity. Maturity could be arguably the most important one, and the root of the other qualities. Maturity includes being responsible and the ability to make the tough decisions; to be able to make a choice that may be beneficial in the long term rather than immediately advantageous.

It is impossible to take on the challenge of going to college and throw away any or all of the leadership qualities needed to succeed. There are so many different reasons that deciding to take responsibility for one’s own life is essential to a successful college career. These include planning ahead for upcoming semesters and how to manage the money needed to pay for tuition. If money management includes getting a job, then being able to juggle schoolwork and a job requires quite a bit of planning for not only juggling the two, but staying on top of them both. Maintaining a good grade point average can be the deciding factor on whether a student can stay in college. Choosing a major that will essentially mark the path their career will take is an enormous responsibility for a seventeen to twenty-two year old to make. Each of these things, and many more, are influenced by the whether or not the student has the personal characteristics of a leader.

The skills brought forth such as integrity, confidence, and maturity, are key factors to the success of a student in college. They will help a student choose between going out for an entire night with friends, or staying home to work on a project and studying for that challenging English class. They will push a student to speak with a professor about their uncertainties in a tough class, rather than waiting until the last minute to save a sinking ship. They will allow a student to create long lasting, healthy friendships that will encourage them down the right path during, and after, college. Each of these traits will help mold a college student into the person that will impact others in a positive way. College is a scary and daunting thing to take on if a student does not have the ability to step up and be responsible for leading in their own future.