I was presented with the Achievement and Leadership award at graduation ceremony. Chevening essay

Leadership and Influence Chevening essay

While a student at the University of XXX, I was the Site Coordinator for (name of nonprofit organization) in the for four years. I administrated volunteer activities that built positive relations between (nonprofit) and the University through mutually beneficial collaborative projects; and educated the university community about the social issues affecting the need for service in (name of community) and beyond. I recruited and oversaw volunteer activity in the food and clothing bank and emergency assistance and provided training and orientation to new volunteers. I collaborated with university student organizations and departments in order to execute quarterly food and clothing donation projects on campus; which resulted in hundreds of pounds of canned and dried goods and clothing items being donated to (nonprofit) on behalf of the university throughout my tenure. I also delivered persuasive presentations to several classes and organized and spoke at the impactful panel discussion "Through These Eyes: Stories of Homelessness in City" as a means to educate and influence students to become active volunteers by recognizing that there is truly no greater satisfaction than serving others. Based on quarterly reports submitted to the university, these endeavours further resulted in a steady increase in volunteers. Consequently I was presented with the Achievement and Leadership award at graduation ceremony.

In my home country of (name of country), I served as Care Coordinator for a church Action Unit where I led a 20-member action unit in determining the needs of our community and worked together to create an action plan to address some of those needs. I was tasked with leading successful meetings, planning and organizing monthly activities and mobilizing members of the action unit to engage in community-based activities. These include visitations to households, distribution of care packages (food and toiletries), cutting the lawns and cleaning the residences of the elderly and shut-in in the community, and blood pressure and blood sugar checks by trained medical personnel and community health-based presentations by experts in their field. (government's concern about NCDs)

I have taught in both the private (primary) and public school (secondary) in home country where, as the leader of my classroom environment, it was not only my duty to teach curriculum content but to model good behaviour and to inspire students to be and do their best. Right upfront I purposefully inform my students that I expect great performance in academics and conduct. One of the ways I influenced the younger students (to manifest this expectation) was by rewarding using stickers and individualized comments on test papers and merit cards to boost their level of motivation. As I built rapport with my students at (name of institution), many of my class sessions included motivational talks encouraging these future leaders and nation builders to further their studies and diligently pursue their goals to achieve success not just for themselves, but for their communities and our country.

Nicole, while I understand why you should be proud of every leadership and influencing experience that you have had over the course of your academic and professional lifetime, the last thing you want to do is mention so many of those that your essay becomes forgettable to the reviewer rather than memorable. Why does this essay come across as forgettable? Simply put, you are merely bragging about all of your accomplishments, but not really emphasizing one which truly stands out as the strongest representation of your leadership and influencing skills. While each one is memorable, it is not up to the reviewer to pick one to remember your application by. That is your task as the applicant. Keep in mind that he will be reading hundreds of application essays per day so he won't be able to keep track of who wrote what, unless you write something that he feels you should be remembered for and serves as a notable consideration for your application.

That said, your essay needs to be severely edited. You must pick the one leadership and influencing experience that you believe has the most highlights and recognitions in your PROFESSIONAL career and develop that into the required 250-500 word essay. You don't need to use up the word requirement, you just need to explain the event enough to make the reviewer understand why this is a very strong representation of your leadership and influencing skills. I am asking you to consider your professional career alone because that is what the leadership and influencing essay is all about. Looking for the potential future leaders and motivators in a country and those, are best spotted through their professionalism and career accomplishments.