The second session of the eight-part series IgniteU took place Thursday, Sept. 26 from 5:30-7 p.m. in Henderson 100. This series is designed for students who want to learn more about how to properly run student organizations and develop into better leaders.
IgniteU is run by George Burdick, WSGA president, and Bella Wood, WSGA vice president. Wood facilitated the session and explained that she and Burdick created IgniteU to bring campus vibrancy.
“We built IgniteU as a series that would help students better understand the influence that they can have on campus, whether that be individually on themselves, for themselves and for their future, or if that extends into student organizations or into community organizations, whatever that might look like,” Wood said.
Burdick believes that leadership is a skill everyone should practice and apply to their own lives.
“On a professional level, leadership skills are always in high demand pretty much anywhere you’ll go. Everyone needs someone who can get a team together, take action or do different things and do those things well. A lot of times we have a lot of leadership positions who have no training or anything, so it’s always great when people have some kind of training, some kind of idea of what they’re doing. On a personal level, I think a lot of these skills are useful in personal life,” Burdick said.
The theme of the session was self-discovery. Students learned overall that self-reflection is the first main component of self-discovery and can be used to develop a new perspective about themselves, their priorities and how individuals respond to certain situations. They also learned that certain methods of self-reflection are dependent on the individual. Examples include journaling, self-care and even expressing gratitude. Most areas in life that require self-reflection include your career, relationships, values, biases, finances, health and much more.
After ground rules, introductions and a rundown of the agenda, students took a minute to pick a quote from a collage board and shared with a partner why they connected with it. Examples of quotes were “Be nicer to yourself, you’re still learning,” “We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are” and “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.”
Next, students were introduced to multiple personality tests, which were the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Sparketype, True Colors Personality Quiz and Learning/Thinking/Working Styles Inventory (also known as the “Egg”).
In the True Colors Personality Quiz, students ranked specific traits from 4 (most like you) to 1 (least like you). After doing calculations based on their rankings, each student was assigned a color. Orange is adventurous, gold is hardworking, blue is relationship-oriented and green is analytical. After they have completed the quiz, students split into groups based on their colors and planned a vacation as a team-building activity.
The Learning/Thinking/Working Styles Inventory was similar to the True Colors Personality Quiz, but students were assigned a personality type instead of a color. Types included “concrete experience, “reflective observation”, “abstract conceptualization” and “active experimentation”. After calculations, students received a unique list of general traits and guiding questions that fit their personality.
Throughout the session, students learned more about who they are as people and how well they interact with others based on their personalities. Creytin Sanner, freshman political science major, thought the session was very helpful.
“I felt like I learned more about myself and others and it kind of helped me narrow down what my strengths are to help me out not only in college but the real world,” Sanner said.
IgniteU sessions are scheduled all the way to February. The next session takes place Friday, Oct. 18 from 3:30-5 p.m. in Henderson 100. The theme will be building an organization. For more updates, follow WSGA on Instagram or reach out via email at [email protected].
Edited by Stuti Khadka and Jeremy Ford
