2015 Florida International Leadership Conference

The Florida International Leadership Conference is an annual gathering designed to enhance students’ leadership skills and promote international friendships among Florida colleges. Over 160 students from 50+ countries attended. Representing Santa Fe were members of the World Travelers and International Students Cultural Association clubs, under the guidance and support of Myrna Cabrera. The World Travelers also had the opportunity to give a presentation on getting students more involved on campus. That first evening I participated in a slew of elaborate icebreakers. Peer leaders challenged us to think creatively by finding solutions to a variety of team-building exercises. For example, we were instructed to form a long line with people born in January at the front, all the way to those with December birthdays at the end - without uttering a word. (We solved this by indicating the number of our birth month on our fingers.) Another activity entailed making animal noises at each other. At one point, I found myself holding hands with two strangers, trying to step through a hula hoop. Although many of these activities were silly or embarrassing, they served to lighten the mood and make us feel more comfortable with each other.

The general session was titled “Finding Your True Colors”. We completed a short personality survey, and were assigned into groups according to our different styles of leadership. Each style was represented by a different color, and we discussed their strengths and weaknesses. I was placed into the Gold group. Golds were described as organized, reliable, and “considered by others to be the structural backbone of their organization”, but also as having a tendency to be bossy, inflexible, and easily frustrated at a perceived lack of seriousness in others. To my surprise, the rest of my club members were placed in the Blue group. They were described as being highly caring, loyal, “the ones dedicated to keeping their team together and happy”, while sometimes being too emotional or unwilling to take a stand. The rest of the session was devoted to how to best support, approach, and interact with each type of leader. I found this session to be very useful. As each style was outlined, I thought of how it described students and faculty I know at Santa Fe, as well as how I could apply this information when working with them in the future. It also helped me to see how some of my own behaviors may be interpreted by others.

Afterward, we broke out into individual sessions. My favorite session that I attended was called “Supporting International Students: Ways You Can Impact Your Campus”. The speaker was a student who had moved from South Korea to the United States at the age of 15. She shared her experience trying to adapt, facing problems with her host families and struggling to make friends. Her story was really powerful to me because I think it is a common experience. I saw students nodding as she spoke and heard others share similar stories later. I had never considered some of the unique difficulties that students studying abroad in the U.S. face on a daily basis. I was especially moved when the speaker said, “I just wanted to give up and go home, but I had fought with my parents for so long to get here that I didn’t know what to do. I cried every night and they had no idea.” However, she found purpose and meaning when she began attending college by signing up to be an ambassador to other international students. She explained how she became dedicated to making that transition easier for them, so they wouldn’t face the same isolation she experienced. She shared with us specific examples of activities that she helped coordinate to connect international students with their campus and community. Her presentation was not only inspiring, but very helpful in terms of providing ideas on how we can become better integrated with the international students at Santa Fe.

I, along with the other officers of the World Travelers, co-presented during the second breakout session. Our presentation was titled “Getting Students Involved: How to Manage a Successful Globally-Oriented Student Group”. We used this opportunity to share the success of our organization with others. We described the state of the club when we arrived, the motivation behind developing it, and exactly what practices we put into effect that enabled us to triple our active membership within one semester. Afterward, we engaged students in a Q&A session and shared ideas on how they could improve membership in their own organizations. I am glad I was given the chance to present, not only because we were able to share our strategies for success so other students could incorporate them into their own campuses, but also because it brought me out of my comfort zone. Speaking in front of strangers is different than speaking in front of your club members or classmates. I was very nervous leading up to the 75 minute presentation, but as soon as I began talking about our organization my fears vanished. I was speaking on a topic that I knew and felt passionate about - it was actually a lot of fun! At the end of the conference our session received high ratings. Organizing and delivering that presentation was a good experience in engaging with other Florida students on a meaningful topic, and it served to bolster my confidence when speaking in front of others.

(Above: World Travelers pose with the keynote speaker, South African Olympic swimmer and racial reconciliation activitist Marianne Kriel.)