Students Attend Leadership Conference

07/25/2024

Three Muskingum University students attended the 2024 Institute for Leadership Education and Development (I-LEAD) from July 15-18 in San Bernardino, California.

The conference focused on inclusive leadership and community building. Participants explored the complexities of leadership in our current world and were encouraged in their life-long leadership journey.

For each of the Muskingum attendees, it was a transformational experience.

"I-LEAD challenges you to trust the process and dive into a deeper meaning of leadership," said Muskingum Programing Board (MPB) President Kena Miller '25. "We all know we are leaders, but how so and why? I-LEAD's exposure to leaders from around the world gave me insight into other ways to lead and teach others. This was an eye-opening experience that taught me that we are all unique individual leaders, but we can learn from each other."

Mikayla Tomcik '25, a Welcome Weekend Coordinator and Muskie Preview Coordinator, agreed. "Leadership is something that isn't learned individually. Leadership takes a whole community around you to help you strive to be the best leader possible. It takes more than one story in order to get where you want to go. This experience was like no other."

Reflecting on the conference, Student Senate President Zach Ogle '25 said, "To be a leader you need to know what makes you a leader. To figure that out, you must know your core values and where they were established along your leadership journey. I-LEAD guided us in this process and more. It really defined what leadership is and what it looks like. When asked to describe I-LEAD, I can't even put it into words, one just has to experience it!"

Kena, Mikayla, and Zach each hold additional leadership roles in their respective Greek organizations and other student activities.