Commit to Leadership
The crowd in the ballroom erupted into a roar of “Commit!” “Commit!” The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Student Leadership Conference, held in historic Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, was attended by a delegation representing each community college in the state of Virginia. This year’s theme, “The Power of You,” represented the fact that each of us has the ability to grow in a leadership capacity, but it takes commitment. Heather Sorrell, associate director of enrollment management and student support, VCCS, definitely committed to making this year’s conference a lively, educational engagement.
After Friday night’s dinner, the rest of the evening was filled with motivational entertainment by our lively emcee, Stan Pearson, II. Music blared, accompanied intermittently with spontaneous dance episodes by conference participants. Pearson is an engaging author, energetic speaker, and motivational comedian. His shows are entertaining, educational and interactive from beginning to end. His charisma, sense of humor and ability to connect with his audience engages the most disconnected participant. Afterward, a lively meet and greet social was held well into the evening.
Saturday morning started at dawn with an incredible breakfast. Our keynote speaker, Isa Adney, is a writer, TV host and inspirational speaker. Her groundbreaking book Community College Success: How to Finish with Friends, Scholarships, Internships, and the Career of Your Dreams is a comprehensive narrative about networking strategies specifically targeted at first generation and community college students. Adney also writes regularly for The Huffington Post. Her “Trailblazing” speaking engagements have been hosted by various community based agencies, community colleges, universities, non-profits, and corporations. She hosted a question-and-answer session afterward.
The day was filled with concurrent hour-long sessions geared toward fostering each student’s leadership potential. Many of these sessions were led by Virginia’s community college personnel who exhibited creativity within their presentations, while other sessions were presented by industry leaders and experts in their field.
The session “The World Needs More Love Letters” was based on a TED Talk viewing of Hannah Brencher’s Love Letters to Strangers. When she felt herself fall into depression after college, she started writing love letters and left them for strangers to find. Her simple act has become a global initiative. Participants were encouraged to write their own anonymous hand written letters to leave in public.
Another session, “Navigating the Transfer Process,” provided general information associated with transferring to a four-year college, including guaranteed admission agreements.
In the session “Career Decision Making: What Choice Will You Make?” broke down interests into six broad categories: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Understanding these concepts helps to narrow career choices and find satisfying work environments.
“The Wall” was a powerful interactive and educational session which examined negative stereotypes. Participants worked in groups to identify the negative stereotypes associated with certain groups, then individually dispelled them. Participants learned to advocate for themselves and others by using their leadership positions.
“Secrets to Getting Your Dream Job or Internship” revealed the methods that human resource offices use to screen applicants from cover letter and resume to the interview itself. Students engaged in an interactive workshop and ended with a self-evaluation of their skills.
“Professional Dining Savvy” was presented by Dianne Garcia, founder of Everyday Elegance. Professionals need to recognize that knowing how to conduct themselves successfully while dining provides them with a cutting edge in the business world. It covered which fork or spoon is used for what, napkin placement, chair entrance and exit and used utensil placement.
Participants in the session “Time Mastery: 7 Simple Steps for Richer Outcomes” learned the keys successful leaders use for becoming more effective at achieving their full potential through focus, time management, the absence of procrastination, and optimizing sprints.
In “Skills + Value = Outcome: How to write a fantastic resume!” participants learned how to create an interesting and informative resume that get results. Participants discovered ways to make any task sound interesting, tailor each resume for different job applications, overcome challenges such as recent graduation or sporadic work history, and learned basic formatting do’s and don’ts.
In the session “So You Want to Be a RAKtivist?” participants learned how random acts of kindness (RAK) can increase health benefits for all individuals involved. They also explored ideas for Random Acts of Kindness Day(s) on campus to make the world a nicer place to live.
The presentation of “Paradigm Pop: How Social Entrepreneurship Can Add to Intellectual and Career Development” demonstrated how applying social entrepreneurship models can play a role in building a resume, and critical thinking while making a positive difference in our community.
This powerful and lively presentation, “Dare to Be Different in a World Full of Copycats,” transformed negative self-perceptions by guiding participants in discovering self-worth, embracing the individual’s unique differences, and celebrating the treasure inside.
In “How to Clone More Student Leaders Like You,” included learning how to attract and recruit members to your organization, make it one of the largest student organizations on campus, the most effective techniques to delegate tasks to members and ensure that it will get done.
The “Social Media Mastery” session taught inspiring entrepreneurs, business owners, and employees how to successfully use social media to generate and nurture prospective relationships, create business leads, and customers.
This very beneficial session, “Work Smarter Not Harder with Tools, Tech and Social Media,” included using technology and social media to make life easier when organizing and marketing club events through the psychology of why ideas go viral, and how to make your events on campus worth talking about, streamline and organize the event, and how to use social media to get your campus to know about your event within a week.
The session, “Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership Habits & Attitudes,” discussed building strong character and core values which are two keys to leadership success. Basic self-leadership concepts through the lens of “Habitudes” form images that help explain the importance of integrity and recognizing your inner potential.
“S.A.L.S.A. Life”, was a program which taught students how to Salsa Dance while learning leadership, teambuilding, non-verbal communication, and the rhythm of life, step by step.
The session, “Ethics for Leaders,” focused on how effective leadership is supported and reinforced by values and ethics.
The “Recreation Roundtable,” hosted by Todd Bowyer, director of campus recreation at Roanoke College talked about the benefits for community colleges to join the National Intramural Recreation and Sports Association (NIRSA).
In “Overcoming Obstacles,” Adam Linkenauger discussed his experiences of when he was recruited to Clemson University’s track and field team, where he was a seven-time ACC Champion and ACC Rookie of the Year. He qualified for the Olympic Trials, however, due to an injury he was unable to fulfil his dream. Adam refocused his attention to dunking basketballs and writing his “Become a Freak” Vertical Training Guide. He gained national attention through his YouTube videos, and as the National Dunker of the Year, was featured in PowerAde commercials.
A few other sessions included, “How to Keep the Fire Burning in Your Club,” which addressed staying upbeat and focused; “Discover YOUR True Colors™” understanding yourself and others based on your personality temperament; “Meeting Your Goals” and “Ideas for Community Involvement.”
There were so many interesting topics to choose from in such a limited time. Participants had a difficult time choosing which four sessions to attend. Perhaps next year’s schedule will allow for participation in more sessions.
After a brief decompression time and dinner on our own, some chose to participate in a community service project for “Stop Hunger Now!” We assembled meal bags consisting of rice, dehydrated vegetables, dried texturized vegetable protein, (TVP), and a packet of vitamins. These individual meal bags which feed six people will be dispensed to third-world countries and distributed to school girls to take home to their families. This is the only reason why many of the girls are sent to school in a country where the education of females is not supported.
Other activities that went into the night were Cornhole free-play and a school team tournament, casino games, balloon art, a crazy photo booth, Nguzo Saba African American Drum & Dance, caricature artist, and an ice cream social.
It was hard crawling out of our warm comfortable beds Sunday morning. Breakfast was accompanied with closing remarks and a reminder from our energetic emcee to commit to our leadership. “The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.” –Ray Kroc
If this has piqued your interest and you want to participate next year, it is possible. Get involved in a PVCC club or organization. Take the initiative in a leadership capacity. This could be your story next year. Challenge yourself.
