"FUEL"ing the Leadership Spirit

I’m currently in the midst of an application frenzy. Desperately seeking an internship for this summer, job descriptions have become additional required reading for me this semester. Every job posting I have my eye on is distinct, but what they have in common is that they are seeking “leaders." As a young sophomore, I realized that I haven’t refined my leadership skills to their fullest potential. Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of Fordham University Emerging Leaders, or FUEL for short.

Sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement, FUEL is a ten week workshop for students to develop their leadership skills. Every week we have the opportunity to listen to guest speakers, which include various faculty members, professors, and administrators, present on various topic related to leadership. Some of these topics include motivation, public speaking, diversity, and Ignatian values. We also participate in many group activities, which allows us to meet other students interested in becoming better leaders, and we have weekly challenges to fulfill.

This week we listened to a presentation on values and learned that in order to become a better leader we have to be in touch with our own values as well as identify the values of the people we are in touch with. This week’s challenge, in preparation for next week’s presentation on mindfulness, is to note all the times in the week we are faced with stressful situations.

Prepped and ready to go for today's session.

This year’s theme is “Know the way, go the way, show the way.” Knowing the way is knowing who I am as a leader, knowing those I am leading, and having a clear vision for the future. Going the way is taking initiative and setting an example for others. Showing the way is learning to be the best leader possible and inspiring others to become leaders as well. At the end of FUEL, I will be better equipped to do all three in my academic and social life. Also, hopefully I will finish all my internship applications and ace the interviews, so I can apply what I learned from FUEL to my career as well!