Approximately sixteen St. Bonaventure University students attended the 2015 Western New York Student Leadership Conference (WNYSLC) at the University at Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 21.
The theme of this year’s conference was Cultivate Your Leadership: Grow Your Legacy. The conference included several guest speakers, including representatives from various universities throughout New York State, including Canisius College, Syracuse University, University at Buffalo, and Nazareth College. St. Bonaventure opened the conference to members of the Student Government Association (SGA), as well as participants in Freshman Leadership, an organization dedicated to fostering leadership skills in new students. The university funded the trip.
Students were given the opportunity to participate in several different presentations and discussions regarding cultivating individual leadership skills and developing stronger leadership skills.
Haylei John, a freshman international studies and Spanish double major, attended the conference through her participation in both Freshman Leadership and SGA. John said several guest speakers gave presentations throughout the day, but she was most impacted by the speech given by the event’s keynote speaker, Kristin Skarie.
Skarie described sustainable leadership, which focuses on the long lasting effects of an individual’s involvement rather than being preoccupied with receiving recognition from others.
“Her presentation gave me insight into a type of leadership that I had never thought of before,” John said. “Basically it was about caring more about the end result than personal achievement.”
Skarie, according to the WNYSLC Program Booklet, has founded a sustainable leadership company, Teamworks, and is a noted author, educator and speaker. She delivered a TED Talk regarding sustainability in Helsinki, Finland in 2014.
Joyce Tristan, a freshman accounting major who attended the conference through SGA, agreed that Skarie’s keynote address was interesting. Skarie discussed recycling, and told students that leaving a footprint is less important than leaving a handprint so others can benefit from your work.
According to Tristan, Skarie told students, “When you have too much on your plate, it’s messy. Keep it clean, keep it fresh.”
Tristan said, “She was really funny and kept us engaged.”
According to John, the most popular talk of the day involved comparing specific leadership traits to those expressed in various Disney characters.
“It was both entertaining and informative,” John said.
She attended talks regarding different types of leadership styles and how individuals with those traits work together, as well as a talk about professionalism in student government and in future interview experiences.
Tristan attended the same presentation, and said the talk also touched on professional etiquette overall. Tristan also attended an exposition about teambuilding and learning about personal leadership style.
Tristan said, “You either had to be in a group with people with your own leadership style or in a group with people of different styles, so you have to learn to work with anyone.”
John and Tristan agreed the experience was positive overall.
John said, “I feel that all of the talks related well to SGA and general leadership, while also being relatable to other students.”
