"Let's Study Together" by Rushi

"Let's Study Together" by Rushi - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

“Let’s study together!” These were the exact words of one of my fellow students a week prior to a test. Five minutes later a group of ten students including myself were exchanging contact information. The goal was to get together and create a study guide on a Google document. A simple task, right? Five days passed without a single person even trying to reach out to the group. I was guilty too but I soon realized that no one would benefit from being shy and passive about starting this goggle document. While my closer friends in the group were frantically trying to convince each other to start the document I decided to start the document, set up the framework and get everyone on the same page. As soon as I started the document, people added their content and within an hour we got ten pages of material to study from. This told me that everyone had their assigned part of the study guide already prepared but were waiting for someone to start the document. All it took was a simple act to initialize the process and then everyone would take care of their part. This left me thinking about the “what if’s?” So what if I didn’t start the document? Considering we only had two days left, I guess we would have just been experts on our own perspective portions of the material.

Clearly evident, any collaboration in college takes a leader of some sort. Simple tasks such as initiating a Google document takes a leader. Many others are shy about pushing others to get to work or setting something up. One thing I learned after this experience was that waiting around hoping that others will act is a terrible idea, as it doesn’t benefit anyone. Another thing that I realized was that in order to lead people and make an impact, you don’t need to lead thousands of people and be the student body president. You can make a difference whether it’s leading a group as small as ten to leading the entire student body. So any leadership experience helps and makes an impact on all of those that are directly related.

Leadership is necessary to be successful in all aspects of college. From doing well in your courses to coordinating a club meeting, any collaboration with others takes a leader. The leader is there to over look the operation, give directions and make sure everything goes smoothly. An organized leader is important for efficiency. More can be accomplished when everyone knows what their job is and there is no overlap in responsibility. A leader also makes sure that all of those who are involved are on the same page. This minimizes confusion and also adds to the efficiency of the group. More is accomplished in a shorter amount of time when a group of people is led correctly. Leadership in college is important because it allows for a more efficient and productive operation.