Leading to Success by Tess

Leading to Success by Tess - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Without leaders, our world would be very different. What is a group of genius researchers without a leader to direct their efforts? What can an army do without direction? How would we have the United States of America without our founding fathers there to unite us? Every successful person and group of people has a story to their success; the most recognized humans have used leadership to pave their own pathway to success.

Success in college is abstractly defined, but the entire goal of college is to end up with a successful career based off of your studies through the university. In order to reach their career-based goals, college students must work hard to stand out amongst the competition. They have to be involved in student organizations, have varied extracurricular activities, in addition to excelling in their scholarly pursuits. Leadership is most easily fostered during college. College students have the unique opportunity of being surrounded by a multitude of peers seeking direction in their lives. Breaking through the competition and directing a group of these peers is not only beneficial in reaching these career-based goals, but more importantly developing into a desirable, contributing member of this world we live in.

Now, with my 3 years of experience in college, I’ve noticed something great: college students build each other into great leaders. I didn’t think of myself as a leader when I started at the University of Florida, but through my student organization, the national gender-inclusive honor fraternity Phi Sigma Pi, that quickly changed. The students around me saw something in me and motivated me to become the leader that I am today. I am now on the executive board of my organization, and with this leadership position I have learned so much about myself and who I wanted to be in my career after college. I have no doubts that these leadership skills I have developed will follow me and guide me as I reach my aspirations to change lives in my career as an audiologist. Having our vice president step down and having to take over his responsibilities will benefit me in any research team in the future where someone doesn’t pull their weight. Having to deal with adversity from members not agreeing with the decisions we made as an executive board will benefit me as an audiologist introducing new technology to a team of interns or employees. There are so many situations that college students encounter as a leader that can be morphed into a learning experience to look back on as an adult in the real world. There is no doubt that leadership is a prerequisite to college success.