No More Holding Hands by Morgan

No More Holding Hands by Morgan - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leadership skills are necessary for college success because in college, there is no one to hold your hand, especially that first year. Your mom is not there to wake you up in the morning when you have already hit the snooze button a couple times. Your outgoing lifetime best friend is not there to help you make friends. Your high school calculus teacher is not there to reach out to you when he sees you struggling in his class. For the first time, in approximately eighteen years, you are completely and utterly on your own. It is a little frightening. To conquer college, and the first year, you need to have leadership skills ranging from independence to time management to a vision of the future.

First and foremost, leaders are independent, and in college, being independent is a must. In high school, you were guaranteed to know at least one person in all the same classes as you, and doing the same activities after school as you. In college, everyone is on a completely different path. You have to be willing to do things alone that will benefit you. You cannot always have a friend acting as your crutch. Throughout classes, clubs, meals, you will be alone and that is okay. Save the weekends to spend lots of time with friends. During the week, you should be that independent leader. Go out on campus and get what you want! You cannot be afraid of professors, teaching assistants, advisors, and people in the career center. They are all awesome resources and if you’re independent and seek them out, they’re guaranteed to help you become successful.

As for time management, it is extremely important for that college success. Balancing everything will be a little challenging in the first year. There no longer seems to be a distinct line between school and home. College is school and home. There are gaps between classes, and sometimes, you aren’t done with classes until it’s dark outside. When is it okay to put the books away and just chill out? The answer: Never! (Just kidding, but studying in college does require a lot of time) The true answer to time management is using a calendar. Personally, I love Google Calendar because you can even sync it with your phone and it can give you reminders of all your events. Plan out your weeks, work in free time, work in outings with friends, but also work in meetings with people. A good leader takes this skill to college with himself/herself.

Lastly, another important leadership skill is having a vision of the future. With that said, you have to keep your eye on the prize in college. What do you want out of these four years? Do you want to study abroad? Double major? Go onto graduate school? Sure, living each day to the fullest is fun, but honestly, that will not cut it if you want success. You need to combine your independence with your time management skills to be a go-getter and get what you want out of this life. There are so many opportunities at college, and if you are not willing to make time, go alone, and figure out what you want, success will be something difficult to obtain. Leadership skills are crucial in turning a four-year experience into the stepping stage for a very successful life.