No Man's an Island by Merek

No Man's an Island by Merek - February 2023 Scholarship Essay

Soft skills are often underrated in our culture. We tend to praise more tangible skills like math, or plumbing, or nursing. These skills are viewed as necessary to have a successful future. But there are things we learn through academics alone and then there are things we learn through life experience.

I believe the soft skill that has the greatest impact on a successful education is interpersonal social skills. One can't be a successful plumber without also interacting with people. Can you imagine a successful nurse who is also terrible at relating to his or her patients? Some people have good interpersonal social skills naturally, and some people, like me, need to work at it.

I am naturally introverted and geared toward math and robotics-type activities. But I am also gifted athletically which I believe makes me a more well-rounded person. I can maintain conversations and have friendships with people who are nerdy, popular, awkward, confident, introverted, social, gamers, and athletes. I am part of social groups and take classes containing all of these types of people.

I believe this skill gives people a leg-up in education because friendships are a valuable asset to have in anyone's educational journey. You can't learn as an island all by yourself. You will need people around you to collaborate, learn from, grow with, share knowledge, and do life together.