The first-ever Global Leadership Day at Arizona Western College was an inspiration to meet new people and groups, and to cross barriers.
The program was designed to help attendees develop leadership skills within themselves and take those skills out into the community, and to explore different styles of leadership and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each.
The event, organized by the International Office, was led by Ken Kuntzelman, director of International Programs, and by Hayley Bradford, International Students Program specialist.
About 75 students signed up for the event, held Oct. 12 in the 3C Conference Center.
After the ice-breaker activity that involved "leading from behind," Kuntzelman introduced everyone to the heads of various AWC groups who had joined the event -- Rotoract, I-Team, PTK/Honors Program, Camp Program and the KEYS.
Kuntzelman went on to introduce the projects of Global Youth Organizations, putting the on-campus activities into a global perspective, and showing how college leaders must think on a large scale as they begin to consider their place in the future.
Next on the agenda was the screening of the emotional and thought-provoking documentary Crossing Borders, directed by Art Wacter of East Berlin. The film documents the experiences of four U.S. students who crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to spend a week with four Moroccan students. Frank conversations take place and stereotypes are crushed, and the message that resonated is that, despite superficial differences, human beings are all ultimately the same no matter where they are from or what religion they choose to follow.
After lunch was a leadership workshop in which participants analyzed who they were and where their strengths lay, thereby identifying what style of leadership worked best for them.
The event was a resounding success as members of the various groups were able to network try to help each other. Hopefully, this will be the first of many future Leadership days as it was certainly an education in how to become a good leader.
