Conference fosters potential student leaders
Kristen Hode learned this weekend how to be a more involved member of LSU’s student body.
Hode, a secondary education freshman, learned leadership skills, time management skills and how to network on campus.
This would not have been possible for her or many other budding student leaders without the Campus Leadership Conference.
“I really enjoyed the sessions,” Hode said. “I went to Dean [Kevin] Price’s ‘Leadership Skills’ group and learned how to increase my involvement in the organizations that I am currently in and how to make the big step to leadership roles in those clubs.”
Sponsored by the Office of Student Organizations and Campus Activities and the Student Leadership Cabinet, the conference, held in the Union from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., featured speaker Patty Hendrickson, one of 450 professional speakers to be named a certified speaking professional.
“The person sitting in your chair is the person who is in control of your future,” Hendrickson emphasized. “Don’t focus on your weaknesses, focus only on the things that make you feel good about yourself. As student leaders, you have an obligation to practice what you preach. And what we preach must be positive.”
After breakfast and the guest speaker, delegates broke up into more personalized sessions with leaders from around campus.
Campus administrators like Associate Dean of Students Jim Welles and Dean of Students Kevin Price led sessions that ranged from business etiquette to time and stress management.
“I am glad that I was able to go to the conference,” said Lauren Mcquiston, a biochemistry freshman. “I feel like I can be more efficient in the organizations I’m in and how to balance those organizations with my schoolwork and social life.”
The conference ended with the approximately 100 delegates receiving a T-shirt and some closing remarks by Michelle Lowery, director of Student Organizations.
“We have learned a lot about how to make our campus better,” Lowery said. “The evaluations that the students filled out at the end show that everyone learned something. Hopefully, we can apply what we’ve learned to our campus.”
Tim Basilica