Campus Leaders Grow at Disney

By Scott Ammons
Editor

For four days in November, The Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World became more than a place where dreams come true.

It became a place where several hundred current student leaders from across the nation gathered to cultivate their professional and private skills, in order to help them realize and achieve their professional potential and personal dreams.

One campus at a time

"Putting Leadership in Motion: Improving the World One Campus at a Time," was the theme for the 55th annual National Conference on Student Leadership Nov. 19-22 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

LSOP board members, SGA members, Leadership Services Opportunities Program Director Melanie Clark and Mary McEntee, a Campus Compact volunteer with AmeriCorps Vista, represented UNCP.

"This year’s conference provided me with a better understanding for giving and commitment to others," said SGA senator Marvin Jacobs.

Workshops

The workshops offered at the conference dealt with:

• International and Inclusive Community Building

• The Power of Giving

• Getting Your Life in Motion: Secrets of Extraordinary Successful People

• The Art of Possibility: Finding Your True Color

• Communication and Conflict Resolution: Listen, Learn and Speak

• How to Play With Difficult People

• Building Partnerships With Administration

• The Way of Leadership

Learning to help others

"I attend several of these conferences a year," said Jeter Smith, a graduate student at Western Illinois University. "It's an opportunity for me to build my strengths as a student services professional," Smith said. "It's about helping others."

"NCSL is a valuable asset for students. The students that have attended the conferences the last two or three years, have been a tremendous asset to the university through various leadership roles they've assumed," Clark said.