The 35th president of the United States, John F.

Kennedy, once stated, “Learning and

leadership are indispensable to each other.” Kennedy was describing that a leader cannot lead a

group of people without knowledge and the urge to continue to learn. Not only does a leader

need to acquire these skills, one must also have the ability to share their education with others.

For me, leadership and education have always been very important to me. I’ve joined the Honors

program at Minnesota State University- Mankato, to further my education, gain the necessary

traits to better my personal and professional goals, and grow my leadership skills.

The honors program gives me the ability to further my education in deeper ways that

most students can. The honors program automatically connects me with other high achieving

students. This allows me to ask questions and study with those around me. The honors program

will hopefully create thought provoking situations in which I am surrounded by like-minded

people. The program will also give me help and advice when I’m taking tough classes. The

honors lounge is a great tool for me to not only connect with others but also study in a successful

environment. The program requires me to stay academically excellent and gives me the

opportunities to do so. The program also gives me tools to help gain and retain knowledge. To

add, I can apply the tools and the knowledge I gained to my life in the real world, outside of

school. This is an extremely helpful tool as furthering my knowledge will lead to greater success

down the road.

Likewise, I joined the honors program to gain social and education skills to help pursue

my career and future dreams. For example, the honors program will further my communication

skills. This will allow me to form deeper connections with other students at MNSU as well as

past/future friendships. To add, better communication skills will allow me to work better with

others and make me a better candidate when applying for jobs. This will hopefully allow me to
get one step closer to my dream job of working for the Department of Defense. To add, I joined

the honors program hoping that I would further my skills such as: time management, integrity,

and self-awareness. These skills will benefit me in my future endeavors as it will allow me to

balance my work and social life and increase my ability to succeed. Most businesses want

someone who is well organized, determined, has the ability to challenge themselves and wants to

learn. All these traits can hopefully be built or grown through my time in the honors program.

Equally important, I joined the honors program at MNSU to grow my leadership skills.

The honors program has a great reputation for growing leaders and having their members impact

society in amazing ways. Giving back to my community has always been of huge importance to

me and my character. The honors program has a great outreach with the Mankato community

giving me ample opportunities to give back and make the world a better place. In doing so, I

would be developing my leadership skills. By doing community service, I will be challenged to

work with a group as well as be self-motivated to complete the given tasks. These are great skills

for a leader. To add, being in the honors program will cause me to be motivated to maintain a

given grade point average, ensuring that I am working hard in every class. By doing so, I will

develop traits like accountability and responsibility. Those skills are necessary for a leader to

arise. Leadership is an important quality when applying oneself in the real world. Business,

social groups, and families need leaders to grow and prosper. If I were to gain and grow these

skills within the honors program, I would be at a much greater advantage in the future.

Therefore, the honors program is a great resource to develop my leadership skills in order to

succeed now and in the future. Thus, being a reason why I joined the program.

Overall, furthering my education, gainined necessary traits to better achieve my goals,

and growing my leadership skills are some of my many reasons for joining the honors program at
MNSU. Becoming more knowledgeable and growing in important traits are super important to

me and my success in the future. Therefore, I believe the honors program is a great way for me

to become the type of person John F. Kennedy was addressing.