Lead Yourself into the Future by Rebecca

Lead Yourself into the Future by Rebecca - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Phones rang over the noisy roar of the crowd in the office. Multiple people were asking me questions, despite me already talking with customers. It would be easy to lose focus and even sanity. But I knew the secret. The only way to survive busy mornings at St. Elias Guides was to take deep breathes as you conquer one thing at a time. It required focus, careful attention, and leadership skills. But most importantly, it requires the confidence and independence to know you can handle any challenge.

I began working at St. Elias Guides in Alaska when I was eleven years old. My employer likes to joke that I gave myself the job. I decided I wanted to work at this company early in life. However, instead of applying, I picked up a broom and started sweeping the office floors. Sweeping floors lead to folding shirts, which in the long run led to being taught how to answer the phones for the office staff. Over the years I watched and observed until, in the year of 2015, I was part of the management team. By the time I was seventeen, I was training other office staff who had at least ten years of age over me. As one can imagine, this was not an easy task. The difficulty came not because of the tasks needing to be performed. The difficulty came due to my age. I worked as hard as I could in order to be taken seriously. It required humility but knowing when to step up the plate of being in control - when to be a leader. If you've ever been a leader, you know those two skills are what make up leadership.

What does all this have to do with the original question? It is important to hear how I view leadership. In my eyes, leadership is the ability to humbly, yet confidently, inspire and guide people towards a goal. This requires that you are confident in your own skills, in order to help teach. It requires you having the independence to push for a goal, yet the skills to bring others to this goal as well. It requires teaching skills as well as being a confident individual. But is leadership skills necessary for college?

I do not believe leadership skills are necessary for college. College is, above all, about developing your independence in order to strive for future goals. College is about learning skills, techniques, and gaining information to accomplish your future dreams. To say that leadership is needed in college is to say that leadership is needed in life. Does this mean that people who are not leaders have not succeeded in life? That's preposterous. If you are an independent person, working diligently and efficiently towards your goals, but not leading others in the steps of your dreams, by all means continue on in life! You do not need to lead people in order to succeed in life.

I'm forever grateful I learned leadership skills at St. Elias Guides. My years at this job taught me more lessons than I will ever realize. But the most important skill I learned is independence. I do not believe leadership is necessary for college. College students need to learn the ability to be independent and self-reliant. This ability will lead to success in many other areas, including leadership skills. Maybe some students will turn out to be a leader. If they do, they will need independence. If they do not become a leader, they will still need independence. We ought to be encouraging students to work hard and independently. We ought not be forcing everyone to become a leader. If a college encourages a student towards their own independence, imagine how far that student will go in life. When we learn to be the leader of our own lives, before attempting to lead others, then we will have a strong confident world.