Get Me Some Of That Leadership by Lisa

Get Me Some Of That Leadership by Lisa - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Do I need to have leadership skills to be successful in college? For me this is a question that I can look at from two different angles. When I started college way back in 1998 I was just there to get my credits and move on to the next class. I learned what I needed to learn, not ever thinking about taking it with me into my grown up life. I didn’t think of how getting my education would change my life or how it would impact my future. My goals were clear but how I was going to effectively reach them was not. I never thought of how not finishing would have an effect on my overall self worth and how I would feel as if I let myself down over and over again.

Now as an adult I’ve thought about all of these things more than I care to admit. I have taken classes on and off for the last couple of years and I can tell you I am actively pursuing a change in my life. I have worked as a substitute teacher for the past twelve years. I love it, but it is not quite good enough, I want more. I want my own classroom. I want to grade my own papers. I want to go to Professional Development meetings and work with my fellow teachers to make my school the best it can be. I realize now that all of the classes I have taken and will take will influence the way I teach others. They will give me credibility in my own classroom. They will help me be confident standing in front of a classroom full of my very own students.

Leaders see opportunities and they take them. I have the opportunity to go back to school and finally get my teaching certification and I can tell you right now, nothing is going to stop me. Leaders want to see positive change and they find a way to make it happen. By completing my college education I am bringing about positive change in my life. I have had to push myself out of my comfort zone to get to where I’m going, but I’m doing it. I want to be able to tell my kids that I finished college and that I took the steps I needed to take to make a better life for everyone. I want to be able to influence every one of my students in a way that makes them want to learn. The only way I know how to do that is to be a take an active role in completing my education. I have to go to class and be an active learner, take everything I am taught and think about how I can use it in my classroom. I also need to get to know the people around me to build relationships with my classmates. I think you learn more when you can take in the opinions of others and work together towards a common goal. I truly believe that by doing all of these things, my success in college is inevitable. Success to me is measured by what goals you reach and by finally finishing college I am meeting goals that I set for myself a long time ago.