Being experienced at different leadership positions throughout whole life

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers

Please guys, help me make corrections where needed.. Thanks

looking from a different perspective

People often believe leadership skills are either acquired by birth or inherited. Vince Lombardi once said, "Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile". I have experiences at different leadership positions throughout my life such as being the vice-captain in my high school soccer team, class representative in every grade in high school, youth leader at church and as the man in charge at home. With these experiences, I acquired valuable and important qualities to be an influencer especially being a good listener, a problem solver, a team player and most importantly, a patient man during constructive criticism. Even with these qualities, I still have countless things to learn such as being more realistic and less optimistic, being a better public speaker as well as being disciplined and assertive.

As the vice-captain of the team, I viewed things in a different perspective especially when losing or winning matches. I corrected this by noting down the mistakes of the previous match, making corrections and physically and mentally prepare for the next challenge irrespective of the previous failures.

In high school, I hated how students ridicule Science due to the school poor performances in state competitions. As the new president of the JETS club, I set a goal for myself to correct this. For me to do well, I always have in mind a quote by George Santayana that "those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them". After my observations from listening to the views of the students, I opened talks with other members of council on a workable solution. After two months, there was a massive improvement from the students in terms of performance during the regular meetings and in competition in which we were the fourth best school, the feat we have never attained. Sincerely, there were few bumps along the road but I preserved which made my regime memorable according to the speech giving by my principal on my valedictory service. Ever since, I learnt that will great power comes great responsibilities.

In year 5, I was in a group of 8 students. Each person was to make a design presentation on a modified starch plant. During the presentation, I gave a brief presentation about changing the design method. My lecturer loved my presentation and made me the team leader. I and my team implemented this new design method and ultimately, achieved our goal by designing a plant economically viable and require little start-up capital. I believe my ability to clearly communicate my plan to both my lecturer and group member led to the great success in the design project.

I know I am far from being an ideal leader but I believe putting my intentions into action coupled with vision, dedication and perseverance can make it achievable with the opportunity Chevening scholarship has given me.

Hi @Yommy here are some corrections from me that might help you:

1. Vince Lombardi once said, "Leaders are made... --->
- I believe not everyone acknowledges the person that you mentioned. Hence, you should also put his background like what I do in the following sentence.

- An American professional football executive in the National Football League, named Vince Lombardi, once said, "Leaders are made...

2. I acquired valuable... ---> I acquire valuable...

3. Even with these qualities, I still have countless ...

- I don't think you should mention your shortcomings since the essay asking you to point out your strengths in leadership. However, if you still want to write it, I put some changes as suggestions in the following sentence.

- Indeed/ As a matter of fact, (please don't use even in your essay, because it has double meanings) I still have countless things to learn such as ...

Abayomi, I don't think you understand what kind of leadership is required of a Chevening applicant. There is nothing amateur about the requirements. The ideal Chevening scholar is someone who has effected some sort of minor or significant change in his organization or profession based upon his leadership and influencing style. The scholarship program only accepts applicants who have a proven track record based upon their professional performance. As a masters degree student, you must have some sort of advanced exposure to leadership and influencing situations that did not exist when you were in college. Basically, this essay should prove that you are mature enough to handle the demands of one of the most important UK scholarships around. That is why anybody whose leadership and influencing ability is limited to college experience does not stand a good chance of getting the scholarship. Since your experience is solely academic based, it will not be able to stand out in a side by side comparison with others of far greater leadership experience and influencing skills based upon their professional performance. The Chevening reviewer is looking for the next secretary of state, the next president of a country, even the next important international CEO to become part of their roster of admirable leadership based alumni. Your essay doesn't deliver that because of the amateur experience that you are relating. It needs more teeth. It needs to be profession instead of academic based. You may still have time to revise the content of the essay. I strongly suggest that you do so in order to give yourself a chance at consideration at the very least.