Zaida Velazco ’17 was awarded the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Region VIII I-LEAD® Scholarship in May and traveled, along with Carla Tapia ’17, to Colorado Mesa University in July, where the ACUI I-LEAD® (Institute for Education Leadership and Development) took place.
The Institute for Leadership Education and Development (I-LEAD®) is ACUI’s premier student program, designed to emphasize the key concept areas of leadership, community development and change. I-LEAD® offers an opportunity for college students to focus on personal growth and other issues facing our world. The institute prepares students to develop skills that will serve them as leaders in any situation, regardless of role, organization or environment (www.acui.org).
During the six-day institute, both students participated in a number of professional development and team work activities, demonstrating how leadership can be achieved in a group setting. They also had the opportunity to visit another campus and interact with students from around the country who serve in different leadership roles on their respective campuses.
Both Zaida and Carla learned a great deal about themselves and their leadership style through this experience and plan to incorporate and use it with the many different leadership roles that they have on campus over the next couple of years. Both students serve in a variety of leadership roles around campus and showed great potential for growth, which is one of the reasons they were selected to attend this program. Zaida currently serves as the Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA), a Student Orientation Counselor (SOC) and a Resident Assistant (RA). Additionally, she is a member of the Student Alumni Association and plays Women’s Tennis. Carla is a first-time RA, SOC and she plays Women’s Lacrosse.
Quotes from each participant:
“I-LEAD® was an absolutely unforgettable experience. The compatibility between the people who were present at the institute was incredible. I felt as if I was surrounded by family and friends I have known for years, and I was only there for a week. Definitely I-LEAD® has been one of the best experiences that I have had, and I will never forget the people involved in it and the lessons that I learned. I will definitely share the skills imparted by I-LEAD® in the future.” –Zaida Velazco ‘17
“When I hear the word “I-LEAD®,” the words that come to mind are strength, courage, creativity and sharing your insight with others that have the same or similar dream as you. Furthermore, I-LEAD® means being who you truly are as a person. I learned great and inspiring things about the people that I was surrounded with at my time there. I learned about the roles that other people have in their community and within their school, and why they wanted to make a change within themselves and others. Most of all, I learned about myself. I learned that it is okay to be wrong, to have an opinion that is different from everyone else, and to not be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone, especially because there are a lot more people out there going through that same situation. I took the challenge to be uncomfortable during my time at I-LEAD® due to the fact that I didn’t know how to use my voice. I had a fear of talking to a large group of people. Fortunately, when I put my trust in this experience, it benefited me in ways where I can use the skills I learned in the future.” – Carla Tapia ‘17
Erin Morrell
Associate Dean for Campus Activities & Orientation