Leading with Analogies: Insights on Leadership Role

Through writing, it is possible to gain many different experiences and view points from your own or your readers perspective. There can be many different purposes for writing things; to get a good grade, earn a scholarship, get a job, etc., no matter what you are writing for, the goal is always to capture the attention of the reader. Though the reasoning behind the writing and the context of the writing may be different, we all want what we have to say to stand out and register to the people whom are reading it. In past writing experiences I was simply writing in order to get a grade, but recently I have had to embark on a new form for writing, to earn a scholarship.

While applying for college and scholarships, there were numerous amounts of different essay topics and short response questions to answer. Mainly all about what you did in high school, how you over came an obstacle, or any basic topics you can think of. One essay, in particular, said to describe a time in which you had to step into a leadership role when there was none before. I felt as if this topic was something that I could easily relate to my own experiences. I decided to responded by explaining an experience I had with being the speaker of the school football pep rallies. With this topic chosen, I could possibly convince my readers that I would be a good candidate for the scholarship being offered. The timeframe for the submission was in the middle of the school year, due to the time it would take for the board to review everyone’s essays and decide which ones deserved the award before any colleges or universities began. This timing gave me an understanding that I wasn’t the only one making sure to reach a deadline. The board reading my essay would be given hundreds of other intellectual and insightful essays to read the same day they had to read mine. So I was forced to cultivate them with my experience using words to stand out from the rest. I had to allow the board members to view me as being capable of leading and pepping up a group of about 900 students, while also obtaining control. If they were to view me this way, then I would stand a chance at receiving the scholarship.

Throughout the essay, I gave many analogies comparing speaking at the pep rallies to speaking in front of the United States as you give your presidential campaign speech hoping to persuade everyone to vote for your awesome Republican/Democratic party. Also comparing it to being the plaintiff in a court case; you just want everyone to root for you. The essay contained a more detailed, persuasive form of wording these analogies to get my point across. Point being that the opportunity of leading the pep rallies is extremely gratifying and a good way to learn public speaking or leadership skills, although it is still a task that could be overwhelming.

After submitting my essay for review, I realized all of the possible things that I could have done better in order to accomplish my goal. Even though I did write in a formal tone, as a scholarship essay should be written, some of the wording could have been more professional and some of the analogies used could have been better illustrated. In this persuasive genre of writing, you want to make the board see you as an intellectual student, who has the ability and skills to make it through college. Making them view you as an asset to their organization. Though all of these “mistakes” were scarce, the feeling that I could have proven myself a more scholar worthy student still lingered. However, the board members must have seen my essay to be insightful to my leadership skills because I did earn the scholarship.

With accomplishing my goal to be awarded the scholarship, I was able to understand how writing in the essay topic form can be modified to suit your cause of writing. It does not have to be the standard five paragraph, introduction, conclusion form; you as the writer are pushed to step outside of those boundary lines. It is effective to be aware, while writing to scholarship board members, that some of them may or may not have reached the colligate level due to the relationship behind the scholarship. Keeping in mind the background information of the scholarship, aids you in deciding which topic to write about and whether or not to be formal or informal tone of writing. In most cases, the form of writing will be formal because of the level the board members will have set for someone who is aspiring to attend college. Meaning that the writer will be expected to use proper punctuation, no slang and useful diction, and for the point they are trying to make to be understood. If the prompt were to be in an informal tone, the level set for the writer would be lowered while still maintaining a strong purpose. Informal writing will allow the use of some understood slang while still requiring useful diction and the point that is being made to still be clear to the reader. The writer has to be able to establish a baseline for what tone of writing it is in.

Writing for any prompt or topic, for any service or award, is tricky and takes a lot of understanding. However, if understood the writer has a greater chance of getting the point being made across to the reader. The challenges of this writing help to stimulate the brain and make all functions of it work. By physically typing or handwriting a paper you are using your motor skills; by reading the words written in the prompt and your paper you are using your visual skills; etc. Using all of the skills allows the writer and the readers mind to expand, feeding it more information. Sometimes we are fed an overload of information; the purpose of writing, however, is to not overload the reader but to give them your perspective or aid to their wants. In the scholarship essay I wrote about showing leadership, I purposefully used certain words and formal tone of writing because I understood exactly what the readers, the board members, were looking for. I allowed them to see from my perspective just how I stepped up into a leadership position where there was none before, earning me the scholarship I desired.