Leadership Skills are Necessary for College Success by Makenzie

Leadership Skills are Necessary for College Success by Makenzie - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

To be a leader means to be powerful, right? Not necessarily. I believe that leadership is incredibly important, even crucial to success in all aspects of life. However, I believe that society often assumes a faulty definition of what a leader is. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, leadership is defined as “a position as a leader of a group, organization, etc.” According to me, however, leadership is defined more as a state of confidence, belief in oneself to succeed, and determination. It is my definition of leadership that I believe is necessary for college success.

Having an older sister who is extremely successful in college, I have been able to observe what it takes to achieve college success. I have learned that there is no formula that will guarantee success in college, but instead success is dependent on a set of unique and distinctive skills. Leadership skills are such skills. I am aware that college is going to be an entirely new experience for me, filled with unique and unfamiliar adventures and enterprises. In order to embrace these changes, I know that skills such as confidence, determination, and belief in myself will be essential. These are the skills that fall into the category of leadership for me. Confidence and belief in myself will be necessary during the times where things get difficult, be it feeling homesick, trying to find my niche, or struggling to keep up with my grades. Determination will drive me to achieve my goal of becoming a Marine Biologist. I have an intense hunger for knowledge and determination to go after what I want. I truly love to learn, and I am confident that this determination well help me to achieve academically in college. My goal to pursue Marine Biology has essentially been set in my mind since I was a small child. My love of the natural sciences combined with my passion for protecting and helping marine life has always made this my ultimate dream.

Achieving college success is also greatly dependent on the ability to interact with and learn from others. I believe it takes a leader to be able to embrace the different kinds of people that I anticipate coming across throughout college. Leadership skills are crucial to be able to learn from others and interact with my peers. I anticipate utilizing my future classmates to form study groups and learn about the various opportunities there are on campus. In order to achieve this, I know I will have to step up and speak up. I also know that I will likely encounter situations in which I am either not comfortable with, or in which my beliefs or values are tested. In these kinds of situations, I plan to use my leadership skills to speak up for myself and attest to my values and beliefs. College success is based upon so much more than just getting good grades. While being successful academically is a priority for me in college, I want to be able to embrace all aspects of college and make it the best possible experience. I know that through my definition of leadership skills, I will be able to achieve college success, and am confident that the same is true for others.