<p>We just had a dinner table discussion with DD on the matter of college apps, essay themes etc. Since she had never had the time (ot desire ;)) to read any of those college admissions books which I bought for her sometime around her 10th grade and eventually learned them by heart myself 
- and neither does she have time to read cc - I tried to pour on her some of the common âcollege admissions wisdomâ I gained from those sourses. We discussed how much the colleges like the applicants who demonstrate âleadershipâ. </p>
<p>I remember myself wincing every time I saw this word on every page of âAâ Is For Admission" or some such book - how on earth, thought I, my shy, introverted, not-so-social kid with no leaderâs inclinations whatsoever would demonstrate it? No chance. Surprisingly, by her senior year my D has had a few episods and experiences which qualify easily for a decent âleadershipâ essay or at least a line in her applications. We just couldnât agree with DD, which one would qualify more. Would the experienced college-bound kidsâ parents enlighten me on the dilemma? :)</p>
<li>She is a president of one club and a co-president of another. Mostly, her functions include some bureaucrasy work and some events organisation. At one of her clubs, last year she had another position - âactivity managerâ, which required much more (than the âpresidentâ position) of her âmoral staminaâ (which she doesnât have much of:() - she was responsible for contacting the places where the club intended to give performances for the community.</li>
</ol>
<p>2.At her competitive, math and science-dominated h/s she at some point insisted on re-introducing of the âNational Examâ - the contest in foreign language which at some point her school discontinued participating in. She talked her teacher into having participation back - therefore, some of her fellow students participated and won various prizes. The fact that my D won twice, didnât hurt, too. And those winnings got their foreign language teacherâs name into the âhall of fameâ on that contestâs web-site. </p>
<li><p>Then there was a brand-new linguistic contest which she talked her school officials into participate in (and proctor it, too). That involved trying hard to catch those officials at their offices and around school - in odd times, before or after classes, in the most stressful time of the school year (spring) - and make them promise the classroom, the computer and the school-appointed adult person as a proctor. She did her best in advertising that contest among her schoolmates ⌠and succeeded in getting two more (besides herself) people to compete. She and one of the two other her schoolâs participants got ones of the best 20 results in the country.</p></li>
<li><p>She is a section leader in her school choir and there was a long period of time when she became a temporary choir conductor - because the teacher was sick and somebody ought to do it.</p></li>
<li><p>There was a âsillyâ episode in her school life - which we couldnât agree on whether it could count as a âleadershipâ - she was in 8th grade and attended language classes at the neighboring high school (having finished with all the middle school-level studies in that language); her friend was a sofomore in the same school; they both had the same language teacher who turned out to be completely incompetent :(. At some moment her friend and she became so much fed up with that âteaching styleâ, that they started a virtual âsocietyâ of âactually learning the languageâ ;). They created some âhand-outsâ with all the material which, by their estimations, they ought to have learned by that time of the year; some mailing list of their respective classmates who were interested in getting those hand-outs and their (my Dâs and her friendâs) expertise help in learning all the material. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Which of the listed above experiences would you (in adcom shoes :)) see as a better âdemonstration of a leadershipâ? Which would you choose (or advice your kids to choose) for an essay theme to come across as a âleaderâ? ;)</p>