| December 4, 2019 | Jill Bold | managing editor |
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Campus club presidents, student government officers, dual-credit high school students and student advisers gathered for the daylong LeaderCon event where attendees honed their communication and leadership skills.
LeaderCon allowed participants to explore four different workshops and listen to a keynote speaker throughout NE Campus’ NSTU building. More than 100 people attended, according to NE coordinator of student activities Cara Walker.
“For this to be our inaugural leadership conference, we are so happy that we were able to provide a robust experience to a solid number of attendees,” Walker said. “We have gotten great feedback on the workshops, the keynote speaker, giveaways and more.”
In the “Vital Tips to Effectively Communicate and Delegate” workshop, South student development associate Sandy Davis presented a comprehensive introduction to proper email etiquette as well as common sense professional guidelines.
“Be an active listener,” Davis said. “Stop what you’re doing and make sure you really pay attention because everyone who is trying to communicate with us deserves our full attention.”
Dual credit student Nadine Rumsey of Marine Creek Collegiate High School wasn’t sure what to expect at an event like this and said she wants more insight on how to navigate the world after high school and college.
“I wanted to see what professors and people in higher education can tell us about what can be useful in my career,” Rumsey said.
LeaderCon offered sessions on healthy conflict management, emotional intelligence and servant leadership skills.
Assistant director of counseling and advising Matt Taylor hosted the “What Makes a Servant Leader” workshop, telling students how to achieve leadership status.
“The skills of the different types of leadership should be studied and used as tools in your tool belt as you grow into their own leadership styles,” Taylor said. “But being a servant leader is more of an attitude that you can weave into your personal styles.”
NE Speech Club president and student Melanie Contreras enjoyed how informative the events were and shared some ideas on how to improve future workshops.
“The information is incredible, and we all need it, especially the ones who don’t have any work experience coming out of school,” Contreras said. “I really believe hands-on and experiential events are more effective, and they remember it longer.”
Contreras attended “What is Your Emotional Intelligence?” workshop and said she got a lot out of it.
“That could’ve been an all-day workshop,” Contreras said. “I’m hoping they can expand it instead of only being a lecture. It can be experiential.”
Walker said she observed students networking and positively participating in workshops, and plans to host this event again in the future.
“We plan to do a smaller-scale LeaderCon in the spring,” Walker said. “We plan to make the larger fall conference an annual event.”
