Taking College by the Horns by Sidra

Taking College by the Horns by Sidra - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Before writing for the Simpsons and hosting his own wildly popular late night show, comedian Conan O’ Brien was president of The Harvard Lampoon, his alma mater’s satirical newspaper. Google any one of the world’s most talented people. In most cases, their biographies prove how there is a clear correlation between success in adulthood and leadership in youth. If such direction early in life foreshadows success later in life, one can safely conclude that leadership skills for college success are essential. Attending college is really a privilege and if students do not take the chance by its horns, by neglecting to engage in leadership initiatives, it is impossible to rate their college career as “successful.”

It becomes necessary to define what “college success” really means here. Student achievement can simply mean graduation, but the college experience is more than the classes taken and grades received. The college experience is really about the internal growth encountered, the relationships built, and the impact made to passionate causes. Successful college students take calculated risks towards their goals outside the classroom. These leaders do not have to be presidents of clubs or heads of committees, but they should embody certain characteristics: ambition, courage, creativity, personability, intuitiveness, accountability, and a desire to empower others, to name a few.

The paragons of student leadership can be best found in history books. College students, by and large spearheaded Freedom Summer, the Disability Rights Movement, and the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War. Today from Egypt to Montreal, college students are making a difference too. If they do not meet their political agendas, they are at least getting the most out of their college experience by exemplifying leadership. Students do not even have to attempt to radically alter the course of a nation’s history to demonstrate these skills. A good friend of mine from college worked a full-time job and studied Psychology full-time, eventually going on to graduate with honors. She was the first in her family to earn her Bachelors and Masters degrees, and inspired her younger siblings to attend college as well. If this is not true leadership or success, I do not know what is.

College is a once in a lifetime opportunity and if in that time students are unwilling stray from the rest of the flock, they run the risk of becoming too comfortable with mediocrity. In my personal experience, I joined a variety of activities in college that led me to a career teaching history in an urban public school, work that I have had the pleasure of doing for the past five years. If I did not take calculated risks and had not engaged in leadership initiatives, I probably would not have been the first grandchild to graduate college, nor would I have the successful career I possess today. By reaching out to communities I otherwise never would have, giving speeches, and organizing community events, I stretched muscles that I never knew I had. Even now, I look back at my college years nostalgically and in times of self-doubt to remind myself of the great power I am capable of.

Most people, like myself, cannot rely on pure luck to meet success in college or in adulthood. We have to work towards it early on by standing for a greater purpose. College students must remember that leadership skills do not just look good on a college application or a resume, but they are really essential life skills all individuals should seek to embody. This means college students should use some time to develop these skills and in doing so, they will make the most of their college experience.