"Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.
(minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)"
I really appreciate ur help guyz!
"leadership", "influence" and a boat in the ocean
Whenever I come across the words "leadership" and "influence", a song pops in my mind: "Like a small boat in an ocean, sending big waves into motion". For me those lyrics define the real nature of leadership and influence: one person with a goal and a good plan (the boat), with the help of so many people (the small wave closer to the boat getting wider and wider away), can produce a global effect just like the huge wave that reaches the shore.
The leader within me, who was in hibernation, was brought back to life two years ago. The trigger was my older brother - the role model of the boys of my big family and the apple of my parents' eyes - becoming mentally ill. It was very obvious that he was not being himself, but his "ideal nature" excluded every possibility of us thinking that he could be mentally ill. My parents, so sure of their boy's "perfection" were in denial, and they dwelled in it for too long that my brother's illness evolved into a very severe stage. During that period I was fighting my own denial of my brother's illness, and then denial of my parent's response to the matter; them being educated and open-minded people, and still thinking that an "evil eye" has struck him. The whole situation reflects the level of awareness and the belief system of our society when it comes to mental illness.
As a result, I started educating myself on human behavior. I joined online psychology courses and read so many books, articles, and professional websites. It took me a whole year to convince my folks to get medical help for my brother. But after that, their beliefs had slightly changed.
Six months ago I took part in an initiative called "let's talk Sudan", which is an initiative hosted by the Standing Committee of Public Health in collaboration with the WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health on world health day with the theme being "DEPRESSION". I was one of the ambassadors chosen to attend the following educational workshops that gave us an overview of the concept of mental health, mental illness, how to guide mentally ill people, and how to educate our communities on mental health to reduce stigma. With the tools I gained from that program I began my journey. Now, five of my friends and relatives are seeing a professional regularly. They are speaking of the matter to their communities, my parents are guiding other parents with mentally ill children, and so many other people with mentally ill relatives reach out to me for guidance. All that effect in only five months and this is the result of proper education and guidance.
What has been done so far is still a drop in the ocean, the stigma is still there, and people listen when the speaker is a professional. With the knowledge, guidance, and experiences gained from a Chevening scholarship, a lot more can be done.Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,835 
4783 Selma, for some strange reason, I've been reading personal statements trying to pass themselves off as leadership essays all day today. This essay is one of those presentations. Let's clarify some things. First, do you work in the field of mental health? If you do, then you need to indicate that in the essay. Next, attending a seminar on mental health is not a display of leadership and influencing ability. Even with your presentation of having your friends help you, there was no successful justification of a leadership and influencing skill. I am doubtful as to whether or not this is your actual profession. However, if it is, then you need to find a more profession related example of your leadership and influencing skills. There is no need to present the story of your brother and how that influenced you into this field of work. That is too much information for the reviewer. He is only interested in how you portray a leadership and influencing position in your line of work. I don't see that in this essay. Try to change the focus of your essay from a personal statement to a justification of your leadership and influencing skills instead. Read the samples here and then consider if there are any similar situations in your career that required you to pick up the leadership and influencing cudgels to get the job done.
thaaanks a lot @Holt ! :D
No, mental health is not my current profession, I want to change careers. but yeah I got your point, the reviewer needs to know if I can lead and influence regardless of the field. that is the idea, right?
