Writing: College Application Essays #11 (Scholarships)

Note: I applied for a few scholarships, but the only one I was really successful with was UCLA's Leadership Award. I ended up recycling versions of some of the previous essays, so here is the one original one I wrote. I usually don't like rereading my writing, but I was surprised when I did for this essay because it's better than I thought it was when I wrote it. This is the final post in my college application series, so now I actually have to write some new content. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Select any quote about leadership, and share how it relates to your core principles. (482 words)

On April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt presented his “Citizenship in a Republic” speech to students at the University of Paris. These students did not know that four years later, they would be sent off to fight and die in the fields of Passchendaele, the Somme, or Verdun during one of the bloodiest wars in history.

Following the classic American ideal of rugged individualism, Roosevelt told them:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena... who strives valiantly... who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds... who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows... the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst... fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those... who neither know victory nor defeat.”

As a leader, the so-called “man in the arena” Roosevelt describes leads through action and example. He rises above, not by telling others what to do, but by doing it himself. He does not strive to succeed or fail; he strives to act, regardless of the outcome. No one can tell him otherwise. Every time he’s knocked down, he gets up, dusts himself off, and tries again.

The “man in the arena” embodies perseverance and determination. In my opinion, he follows the American Dream; if you keep trying, you will eventually achieve your hopes and aspirations. Martin Luther King Jr. tried again after state troopers beat civil rights activists on Bloody Sunday of the Selma marches. Carlos Bulosan, the Filipino immigrant and writer, kept writing despite the racism he encountered– and was published in a time when Asians were considered subhuman. Chief Justice Earl Warren continued to enforce desegregation and protect civil rights, despite facing massive resistance by the South and political backlash.

I follow in the footsteps of these men in the arena. However, my arena is not Jim Crow, racism, or American politics. My arena is classism and inequalities in education and opportunity. Unlike my peers, I cannot afford standardized test preparation, college counselors and tutors, or summer college programs. But, like King, Bulosan, or Warren, that does not stop me. I leave my small suburb, find as many free volunteer and educational programs, and succeed. With each rejection, I take a deep breath and move onto the next opportunity.  

Intelligence, communication skills, and time management are just a few skills for being a strong leader. However, above all of these skills is the ability to stay motivated and act in the face of adversity. A strong leader will always find a way– and if he finds none, then he must make one.