Event empowers teenagers with lifelong skills
Kirstan Cunningham, assistant director of admissions at UWA, and some of the high school students at UWA鈥檚 recent leadership conference.
The baby直播 recently hosted 73 students from 16 different high schools for a one-day leadership conference. Kirstan Cunningham was confident about the experience鈥檚 potential.
He knew first-hand how transformative it could be.
鈥淚 went to a similar event years ago in high school,鈥� said Cunningham, the assistant director of admissions at UWA. 鈥淏eing able to connect with other students from other schools really helped me.鈥�
That belief in empowerment is among the reasons the Office of Admissions and Enrollment Management is reaching out to students whose high school administrators say have leadership qualities. It鈥檚 an effort not only to prepare students for campus life, but also to introduce UWA to an attractive cohort of students before they begin whittling down their lists of college choices.
UWA relied on high school administrators to nominate up to eight students for the second-year conference. On Oct. 11, attendees spent the day at the Bell Conference Center going through myriad leadership-styled activities and heard a presentation from Dr. Aleisha Escobedo,聽UWA鈥檚 diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs coordinator.聽
One session concentrated on decision-making. Another dealt with first impressions by asking students to join randomly assigned groups and say something about themselves others might not automatically know by their appearance. Others dealt with leadership assessment, communication skills and adaptability. Follow-up group discussions allowed students to learn ways to improve their skills.
鈥淭he real goal is to connect these students with other students, to realize they鈥檙e not alone because they tend to experience some of the same hurdles and issues,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淥ur goal is to empower them to go back to their campuses and make actionable change in a way that works on their level.鈥�
In an email survey taken after the conference, students told UWA Admissions that they 鈥渓oved the tips they gave me on how to be a better leader,鈥� and they appreciated that there was 鈥渘ot too much sitting and lecturing, which kept it interesting.鈥� That theme resonated with attendees. 鈥淭he part I liked most about the conference was the fact that it was more of hands-on learning,鈥� one student responded. 鈥淚nstead of just listening to how to be a better leader, we were actually doing it. I think a lot of people thought it would be more of us sitting down and listening to people talk all day, and y鈥檃ll did the exact opposite.鈥�
While it鈥檚 important to help future university students improve their leadership skills, the conference鈥檚 role as a recruiting tool for UWA is just as vital, Cunningham said. Getting students on campus allows students to jump-start relationships with the university and its array of academic options.
鈥淚f they鈥檙e here on campus having a good experience and they see things that they鈥檙e really impressed by that can really carry on, it gives them their name recognition,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey understand the brand a little bit by the time we have a recruiter come to that high school.鈥�