How have you contributed to solving a challenge and implementing change or reform? (Be specific and include what aspects of your leadership knowledge, skills and practice you consider to be well established and effective; which people or organization you worked with to solve the problem; and what creative methods were used. (max: 2000 characters)
Adamu, a 36-year-old Deaf man, gained admission on a scholarship to pursue a BA in Social work. However, there were two major setbacks. The university did not have Sign Language interpreters for students so he stood at risk of outrightly losing the scholarship and admission. Also, he had not completed his registration as there had to be a guarantee of his successful stay on campus before his scholarship and admission would be granted by the Scholarship board.
When my work supervisor, also a Deaf lecturer at KNUST, heard about Adamu’s case, he was burdened to help. For a novel case such as Adamu’s, there had to be some changes to ensure a smooth adaptation to campus. That proved difficult because all the other deaf students at KNUST, unlike Adamu, came from mainstream schools and used lip reading so they did not have the need for a sign language interpreter.
Lectures had already begun and we had to be quick with wrapping up his registration details before the deadline. With my supervisor’s permission, I escorted Adamu to every office he had to go to until his registration was complete and verified: from the office of the Directorate of Students’ Affairs after multiple follow-ups, sent a notification letter to the Department of Sociology and Social work to welcome Adamu and make accommodations for him, to the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Head of Department who engaged Adamu as I served as an interpreter so as to understand how to make reasonable accommodations for Adamu to have a fruitful academic journey. After this, we had to go back to the IT unit to validate his studentship through biometric registration.
In one week, what had taken months to be settled, was finally over when I took up the case. Adamu could now smile as he looked at his registration slip that confirmed his identity as a student.
Meeting these heads and authorities came with some hurdles, however, my past experience as a General Secretary taught me the art of negotiation and communication which proved effective when we followed up at the offices before some signatures and authority notes were given. I believe my personality of being one who is persistent and determined to see results helped me not to give up and abandon Adamu’s case.
As a past student leader, I had built a strong network and so when we experienced restrictions, there was someone I knew or could call who would help us swiftly.
Currently, with the help of my supervisor, the head of the Disability unit at the Social Department, and the Directorate of Students’ Affairs, preparations have been put in place to employ a permanent interpreter for Adamu. There is a team of five ladies who voluntarily assist Adamu interim. Due to my current responsibilities as a teaching assistant, I act as a backup volunteer, ensuring that on days that any of the five cannot escort Adamu, I am there to support him.
Only this part of your answer will be accepted. It is 2000 characters long. The rest will be truncated and not part of your application. As you see, it is full of unnecessary trivia that really has no bearing our your qualifications.
I have highlighted areas that need attention.
Adamu, a 36-year-old Deaf man, gained admission on a scholarship to pursue a BA in Social work. However, there were two major setbacks. The university did not have Sign Language interpreters for students so he stood at risk of outrightly losing the scholarship and admission. Also, he had not completed his registration as there had to be a guarantee of his successful stay on campus before his scholarship and admission would be granted by the Scholarship board.
When my work supervisor, also a Deaf lecturer at KNUST, heard about Adamu’s case, he was burdened to help. For a novel case such as Adamu’s, there had to be some changes to ensure a smooth adaptation to campus. That proved difficult because all the other deaf students at KNUST, unlike Adamu, came from mainstream schools and used lip reading so they did not have the need for a sign language interpreter.
Lectures had already begun and we had to be quick with wrapping up his registration details before the deadline. With my supervisor’s permission, I escorted Adamu to every office he had to go to until his registration was complete and verified: from the office of the Directorate of Students’ Affairs after multiple follow-ups, sent a notification letter to the Department of Sociology and Social work to welcome Adamu and make accommodations for him, to the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Head of Department who engaged Adamu as I served as an interpreter so as to understand how to make reasonable accommodations for Adamu to have a fruitful academic journey. After this, we had to go back to the IT unit to validate his studentship through biometric registration.
In one week, what had taken months to be settled, was finally over when I took up the case. Adamu could now smile as he looked at his registration slip that confirmed his identity as a student.
Meeting these heads and authorities came with some hurdles, however, my past experience as a General Secretary taught me the art of negotiation an
Thank you for the input. What sentences do you think I can delete from the passage and still appropriately respond to the question?
This is an updated version of the essay please.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology did not have Sign Language interpreters for students so, Adamu, a 36-year-old Deaf man stood at risk of losing a scholarship and admission.
With my supervisor’s (a Deaf Lecturer) permission, I escorted Adamu to every office he had to go to until his registration was complete and verified; from the office of the Directorate of Students’ Affairs who sent a notification letter to the Department of Sociology and Social Work to welcome Adamu and make accommodations for him, to the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Head of Department who engaged Adamu as I served as an interpreter so as to understand and evaluate the situation for Adamu to have a fruitful academic journey. After this, we had to go back to the IT unit to validate his student identity through biometric registration.
In one week, what had taken months to be settled, was finally over. Meeting these authorities came with some hurdle, however, my past experience as a General Secretary taught me the art of negotiation and communication which proved effective when we followed up at the offices before some signatures and authority notes were given. My personality of being one who is persistent and determined to see results helped me not to give up and abandon Adamu’s case. I had built a strong network a past student leader so, when we experienced restrictions, there was someone I knew and called who would help us swiftly.
Currently, with the help of my supervisor, the head of the Disability unit at the Social Department, and the Directorate of Students’ Affairs, preparations have been put in place to employ a permanent interpreter for Adamu. There is a team of five ladies who voluntarily assist Adamu interim. Due to my current responsibilities as a teaching assistant, I act as a backup volunteer, ensuring that on days that any of the five cannot escort Adamu, I am there to support him.
Question:
How have you contributed to solving a challenge and implementing change or reform? (Be specific and include what aspects of your leadership knowledge, skills and practice you consider to be well established and effective; which people or organization you worked with to solve the problem; and what creative methods were used.
Suggestion: Make your mission and challenge very clear right up front. Make it a statement with far-reaching ramifications, not just for one individual. Make it pack a punch, but still be truthful.
Opening paragraph:
My challenge: Adamu, a 36-year-old deaf man, risked being denied a scholarship and admission to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology because they had no sign language interpreters for students. I was determined to do whatever possible not only for Adamu, but all talented hearing-impaired future students.