The Beauty of Growth by Jaiden

The Beauty of Growth by Jaiden - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

My first time I took on a leadership role was actually being an officer for Phi Theta Kappa. The reason why I decided to take this role was because I felt like I needed to do something different in my life. Even though it is something that is out of my comfort zone, I wanted to change not only for myself, but see the opportunities that are out there for me. I believe when I was selected to be an officer, it made me realize that I have to work hard for something big like this for me to overcome. I also learned that I'm growing as a person and that there are many great opportunities to come in my life. At first, I wasn't going to apply to be an officer. At the time, I was scared, nervous, and very anxious just thinking about it, but I really wanted to do it, but someone that I used to know told me that I won't know what it's like until I try. They also told me that the fact that I already care about it, makes me a strong pick and that someone else might be capable, but so am I. This is a chance to grow and worst case is that if I don't get it, at least I tried. Best case is that I proved myself that I was always capable. That alone gave me a lot of confidence of doing something different for myself which I reflected a lot. I was thinking that if you asked me, the girl who was starting her first semester of college, if she was going to apply to take a leadership role as an officer, I would've said no, but now if you asked me the same question, I would tell you yes. I never realized that taking this opportunity and college could make you grow and learn so much about yourself. That's why I hope to continue to grow and learn more about myself once I transfer to a university.