Communications and Leadership: College Admission Essay Sample

“Good morning Torrey Pines! It’s a beautiful Monday, 77 degrees and partly cloudy.”

My voice echoed throughout the campus and every classroom, as it was my responsibility to do the morning announcements each day in my position as Senior Class Communications Director. The students dismissed the routine drone and started reminiscing about the weekend’s events instead; school announcements and important administrative updates went unheard.

Strangely, it took me four years to realize that Torrey Pines had a serious communication problem. When I finally grew tired of people’s inattention and their consequent lack of involvement in school events, I began to imagine a new method by which I would broadcast crucial information. Relying on many years of experience in cinematography and on a keen fondness for public speaking, I envisioned the creation of a television network that would air monthly, transmitting information to each classroom in a visual manner, a fun new medium for the students.

I gathered a group of outgoing, ambitious students who would assist me as co-anchors on the show. Hours and hours were spent after school, shooting, editing, and producing what would revolutionize communication at Torrey Pines, a program we called Torrey Pines Television, or TPTV for short. After days of frustration and stress, we compiled a five minute segment that addressed sports scores, individual class news, administrative updates, and short features on clubs and theater. The meeting at which I presented the segment to department chairs for approval was the most daunting of my life –c and I was ecstatic to learn that TPTV was approved and could air whenever I chose.

The first showing was efficacious; I noticed a much higher attendance at school events, and fewer students questioned me about activity-related details. I was gratified to know that I was the pioneer of communications at my high school and that it was possible to reach seemingly indifferent students after all. TPTV not only improved school communication, it also offered me insight about myself. I discovered that I have the ability to identify a problem and take action to resolve it. I was instrumental in producing powerful and enduring changes in school communication by leading and inspiring a team of co-anchors.

In the words of James Humes, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” TPTV revealed to me that I am a determined leader who, with vision and effort, can catalyze positive change in my community.