Student Leadership Retreat 2015
April 13, 2015
By Madison Denning, Student Communications Specialist
On Sunday, March 29th, a group of selected Honors College leaders participated in the leadership retreat. Attendees were composed of representatives from each of the various honors organizations and all the new and returning honors mentors.
On Sunday morning, students first met at the Co-Rec where they were split into two groups. The first group, consisting of leaders within the Honors College student organizations (Honors Helping Hands, HCRPC, Cultural Companions, and Honors Leadership Council), gathered to talk about their organizations and their individual roles within them. Claire Jacobs, an active member of Honors Helping Hands, explained that her group drew a picture of what they thought represented their organization. She shared that this was a fun way to start thinking of their roles within the Honors College and the impact they want to make. After this ice-breaker, everyone joined together as a large group to participate in “Boiler Challenge” activities. These group-based activities focused on building teamwork and communication skills.
The second group of students, all of the student-mentors, also participated in leadership-based activities while at the Co-Rec. The goal of these activities was to strengthen students’ abilities as both leaders and mentors. They spent time discussing goals of being a mentor and how those goals could be demonstrated during class time to students. They wrapped up with a discussion revolving around the focus of the program—developing a combination of trust and communication.
After finishing up at the Co-Rec, everyone then bussed to a nearby paintball facility. Once there, students were able to participate in several different paintballing games and challenges. This allowed students to bond with other leaders and put what they had learned earlier in the day into action.
When asked what his favorite part of the day was, Jake Brosius, an Honor’s College mentor, said, “Naturally, I loved the paintball games. Getting a chance to bond with the other leaders in a fun, and interesting atmosphere, where you must really depend on others to win, was an amazing opportunity”.
