The leadership for me is inherent as I strive to change the world around me

Good morning all. Please help me evaluate this essay for my chevening scholarship and please indicate the area you think I should reconstruct. Thank you.

Leadership and Influence Essay

Leadership to me is an ability to influence or inspire people and change their lives positively. Thus, leadership for me is inherent as I strive to change the world around me. As a girl, I dreamt of creating job opportunities in my country where the unemployment is on the high side.

I have been able to lead and influence which is evident in my career endeavours as a film and Beauty Makeup artist. I was the best in the department of Theatre and Film studies Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka from 2012 to 2015 earning admiration from students and lecturers. I coached my fellow students on how to create realistic makeup effects for stage/ movie productions as well as Beauty Makeup. Three from my class motivated, have chosen a career as makeup artist while my department has improved greatly in stage makeup.

After graduation, I started working on Nollywood movie sets. I employed two friends who had little Knowledge of makeup as my assistants. Today, they are both trending as a Makeup artists.

During my mandatory one year National Youth Service, I served as a classroom teacher at The Ambassadors College Ota, where I tutored the whole junior secondary (18 classes) Cultural and Creative Arts twice a week and their performance was incredible. I also trained three fellow Corp members on Makeup application. Alongside, I was part of an organising committee in my Community Development Service group which organised a sensitization on The Importance of Culture in secondary schools. We also created awareness on a tourism potential we discovered which could be beneficial to my country.

I have also impacted lives through community theatres. My group in school effected change in Umuogbu community Awka by cleaning up their dirty environment and managing their waste disposal of which they later joined in the following week. The program was aimed at reducing Malaria and Typhoid in that community through participation and dramatic activities. We also used drama as a propaganda in Amawbia community on the issue of land thievery which was their major problem. My group also visited primary schools where we used drama, poems and storytelling sessions to teach morals and help in difficult topics.

I took part in organising a digital literacy program (Django Girls) which was spearheaded by my sister at Awka. The project was aimed at bridging gender gap in the technical world.

Currently, I have my company name registered (Sophytrick Creative Factory) and still working hard to establish it fully. I have been able to reduce unemployment rate in my little way by employing two people who I also train in the process and having trained (7) people who are now independent of which more are yet to enroll. Am only but happy that am able to inspire people around me. Being selected for Chevening will not only advance my leadership and influence ability, it would allow me meet and be part of young leaders who will shapen my country in our time.

Oragudosi , as far as I know, your particular expertise is not one of the supported fields of study in the Chevening course listing. Therefore, I am not really confident that you will gain the scholarship that you are applying for. However, just because we aren't sure of something, doesn't mean we can't try. So try we will, to create an essay that is worthy of the criteria set by Chevening in terms of leadership and influencing.

Let's take the first paragraph as it is. Don't change it. I think it works well for the opening statement of the essay. The second paragraph will not work. Remove it. The Chevening reviewer is not interested in your academic achievements. He is looking for the next leader and influencer in your country. An academic accomplishment doesn't ensure that. In fact, I am a bit worried that your undergraduate degree might hinder your ability to qualify for the scholarship because, in all honest, it is lightweight and is not part of the priority course of Chevening. Now, while they will consider your application, you need to be of exemplary achievement in this field and actually have some sort of leadership and influencing recognition on a local government or national scale to even be potentially considered for the scholarship.

Try to strengthen the presentation of your work on the Nollywood sets instead. Try to present a clear leadership and influencing style in this area. I am absolutely lost as to how you might be able to do this because of the simplicity of your profession when compared to the other applicants for the scholarship but if you can try to create a moment of leadership and influencing for yourself within the profession, then you just might be able to make it work for the application.

Skip the presentation about the mandatory National Youth Service. It is not profession related and the discussion doesn't really flow with the previous parts of the essay. As for the community theater, unless you actually started your own theater and spearheaded the community drives, It isn't going to work. There is too much team effort in the paragraph for it to be cast as an individualized leadership and influencing aspect of your profession. The fact that it is academic based is enough to have it removed as a potential presentation, but you should at least try to frame it in a manner that just might make it usable for your essay needs.

Thanks Holt, am actually going for a business management course. I will work on the this essay now. Thank you.

@sophytrick - Clearly you have great examples of leadership to share based on your experiences. If you could find a way to include more information about your company and the digital literacy program (Dgango girls) and introduce these examples early in the essay, it will help catch the reviewer's attention.

These examples would then serve as the basis for sharing your story on how you were inspired to start your enterprise including why creating employment opportunities in your country is something that you are so passionate about.

Good luck!

@Sophytrick You do have a really good example of leadership. I was impressed by your passion about the makeup. I think your essay would work very well for you to get the attention. I think if you add more stories about your enterprise, it would be more interesting and good to show your leadership. Good luck!

Thanks @bejoyful. Am working on it.

@Sophytrick
i am also applicant so i wish i could help you
you need to choose a clear example in this field and concentrate on it that really introduce your leadership and influencing instead of varies example that didn't give a true sold example

I believe that Leadership is the ability to influence or inspire people in other to impact their lives positively. Thus, as I strive to change the world around me, I have been privileged to influence and inspire the people that I have come across.

I envisioned creating job opportunities as a girl in my country that has high rate of unemployment. Currently, I have registered my company Sophytrick Creative Factory. As a means of tackling unemployment, one of my goals is to train people in my career field and encourage others to acquire skills that would make them job creators. I embarked on this goal after graduation by employing two friends who had little knowledge of makeup as my assistants. I coached them in the process as I worked on Nollywood movie sets. Today, they are both trending as makeup artists. As a leader, communication is vital to effective followership at that, I carry along my human resources, give them chance to present ideas and opinions as two heads are better than one.

During my mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) , I yearned to impact more and started a Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) on makeup application and wig making under Ado-Odo Ota L. G. A. About three fellow Corp members enrolled and were trained during our service year. I also sensitised other Corp members during Community Development Service (CDS) meetings on the need to acquire a skill. Alongside, I was part of the organizing committee in my CDS group which organised a sensitization program, to create awareness on "The Importance of Culture" in various secondary schools.

As a proponent of self empowerment, I still train people in my career field without charging any fees. Equally, I partnered with my sister who is a Chevening scholar in organizing a Digital Literacy Program (Django girls) at Awka which was aimed at bridging gender gap in the technical world.

I have also impacted lives through participation and dramatic activities. After a senstization through drama at Umuogbu community Awka that geared towards promoting secure livelihood, to further effect change, I and some selected classmates took to leading in the sanitation of the community to inspire and urge the inhabitants to actively partake in cleaning up their dirty environment and manage their waste disposal.

I have contributed to curb unemployment by employing two staff at the moment and trained about seven people who are now independent. There's a saying " give a man a fish today and feed him today, teach him how to fish and feed him forever ". This is my strength as I look forward to more enrollment, I am happy that I have been a model and source of inspiration to people around me.

Being selected for Chevening, I hope to not only advance my leadership and influence abilities, it would allow me meet and be part of young leaders of tomorrow who will be part of the reform process in my country.

@Holt
Please I hope to get your constructive judgment on this new essay I restructured. Thanks