Taking the Initiative by Hailey

Taking the Initiative by Hailey - April 2026 Scholarship Essay

As a person who often waits to be told what is needed by others, one of the biggest skills that I have a desire to develop is my ability to take initiative. Whether in the workplace, on my soccer team, or in my schoolwork, I find great satisfaction in being able to accomplish tasks given to me by others. However, doing what others tell me to do will only get me so far. Eventually, I’ll come to a point where I need to make my own decisions, especially when it relates to my life away from home and my post-college career. I want to make sure that I’m doing things for myself and being self-motivated, not just motivated by the approval and satisfaction of those around me.

There are several ways I can develop this. I can seek to build connections with others and jump on any opportunities that come my way by reaching out first. This would be exceptionally valuable when it comes to seeking out internships and future job openings. In the end, it’s who you know that’s important, and I need to be able to take initiative when it comes to building connections. Additionally, I can spend more time asking questions and finding things that I want answers to. That will be the self-motivation that I need to accomplish tasks if it’s something I truly want to learn more about.

I’ve begun to start searching for opportunities already. During the first semester of my senior year, I was feeling like I was simply coasting through my final year of high school. I had too much free time during the school day for the amount of challenging classes I was taking, and I was bored and unproductive. Thus, I chose to look into a set of online Equine Science courses, and found two focusing on the structure of a horse’s skeleton and musculature. I’m on the horsemanship staff at Phantom Ranch Bible Camp, and wanted to look into something that would aid me during the work day and be able to further understand the horses I’m being partnered with. These classes have given me direct knowledge that can be applied to my work on the ranch, and I’m grateful that I took the initiative to seek out extra courses when my school workload wasn’t enough.

Taking initiative is not something that always comes easily to me. It’s often easier to simply coast by and wait for opportunities to find me, but it’s not always a realistic option. If I have an idea in mind for the future, that means that I have to be the one to pursue it. Nobody else is going to do that for me. I can shape my future how I want to, and the first step towards that future is seeking out and seizing any opportunity that I can find.