<p>Anyone take any chances with the essay? If so, in what way? S2 chose what might be a somewhat unconventional leader.</p>
<p>The feedback at the info session was that they see a ton of leadership essays on Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Obama. Got the sense that anything that was different would be refreshing, if well executed and analytical-- reflecting the kind of leadership thoughts the school looks for.</p>
<p>While the paper was very formal the topic was a little off-key. I chose Dee Snider, John Denver, and Frank Zappa as my “leader”(s) for their work in defense of the music industry at the PMRC congressional hearings in the 1980s. Wrote about them being patriots for defending first ammendment rights against a clearly corrupt and misguided PMRC.</p>
<p>An “unconventional” choice always seems to be the best way to go… as long as it isn’t too obscure as to detract from the idea of the prompt. I wrote my essay about KRS-ONE, an underground hip-hop artist. While on the unconventional side, I made sure not to lose my essay to the unique subject. I’m certainly no expert on college admissions, but I get the impression that this is something many schools look for.</p>
<p>Those are great ideas. I wrote mine about Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, an extremely successful and rather unconventional lawyer, and wrote it in a bit of an unconventional format. Tried to keep it light and fun while staying analytical.</p>
<p>I chose someone very unconventional and quirky. I think it’s a good way to go, because about a million people are going to write about Obama and how he’s a great leader that brings hope to America yada yada…Ghandi changes the world blah blah…Martin Luther King Jr. is the best person ever and died tragically because the world wasn’t ready for his leadership blah blah blah blah…</p>
<p>I imagine reading about these people over and over (and over) would get really annoying. I think someone unexpected (but not totally unknown) would be a nice change. Just don’t write about Hitler or something.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a current CMC student…he wrote about bin laden</p>
<p>^ OK…I take back the Hitler comment then. Maybe.</p>
<p>xD</p>
<p>I wrote about Jay-Z for his leadership within the music industry and his inspiring lyrics. I also touched on how he was one of the first that profited from the business side of the music industry.</p>
<p>Hopefully they’ll see that as a refreshing topic and hopefully I was analytical enough!</p>
<p>I wrote about Woody Guthrie. I described how he was a raw leader, in the sense that he had no money or position of power. He just fought with his ideals and moral outrage. =)</p>
<p>There appears to be a definite music leadership trend here.</p>
<p>That’s true, and I guess I never thought about it till now but it’s a pretty easy way to show leadership through your message. At the same time, this is a small sample group… maybe (hopefully, for those of us who did choose music as our topics) the same doesn’t hold for the entire applicant pool. I’d guess politics/ political protest to be the number 1 topic.</p>
<p>i wrote about walt disney</p>
<p>I wrote about Spartacus and how the Romans, often hailed for their great contributions and leadership ability, ultimately lost the third Punic war (at first anyway) because of their irresponsible and hypocritical leadership. He was a true leader because he didn’t blindly exercise his dominion, but seized the opportunity to make genuine change.</p>
<p>I wrote about Obama for mine last year and got in. I really think it’s how you explain it and what you do with the topic that is more important than who you choose.</p>
<p>I wrote about Marian Anderson, the first black woman to sing at the white house. I connected it back to me because I’m a Daughter of the American Revolution and they wouldn’t let her sing and how I’m a multiracial female and how I interview black artists today etc etc.</p>
<p>I wrote about Dr seuss 
and how he opened the world of reading to youth. then i connected it to my work founding a tutoring program to english-as-a-second-language students.</p>
<p>sounds like all these essays will be fun reads for the admin officers. I’m a dancer so I wrote about martha graham’s modern dance. do you think that because I’m a dancer, this will seem to “up my alley” so to speak? Also, I connected her contribution to my own life. maybe that was not the right thing to do…</p>
<p>I wrote about Tommie Smith, the US Gold Medalist at the 1968 Olympic games who is famous for this: <a href=“http://www.cristianumbro.ilcannocchiale.it/mediamanager/sys.user/45238/tommie-smith.jpg[/url]”>http://www.cristianumbro.ilcannocchiale.it/mediamanager/sys.user/45238/tommie-smith.jpg</a> . He and John Carlos, the Bronze Medalist in the same event, donned black gloves and raised their fists in the Black Power Salute on the podium, and were consequently basically shunned by both the international/Olympic community and the American people.</p>
![http://www.cristianumbro.ilcannocchiale.it/mediamanager/sys.user/45238/tommie-smith.jpg[/url]](http://www.cristianumbro.ilcannocchiale.it/mediamanager/sys.user/45238/tommie-smith.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>I actually considered writing about Hitler but was worried about taking such a risk and it NOT working if that makes sense.</p>
<p>@dance_yerd: I don’t think that should be a problem. I did the same thing–I talked about how Dr Seuss opened the world of reading to the world, particularly to me, and how I used his work to open the world of reading to others. I’m a finalist for the McKenna scholarship, so it must have worked out somehow!</p>