Students at St. Joseph’s University, New York’s Long Island campus are honing their leadership skills through informational workshops.
“The leadership workshops are a series throughout the semester to give students the tools to provide leadership, not only in school but in their communities,” said Bryan Gill, executive director of student involvement, leadership and intercultural engagement.
During a recent workshop, students were led through a presentation about decision-making processes, and a “chip it” discussion where students were told to find three challenges they have faced during their time in a leadership position, and then, as a group come up with different kinds of solutions to the problems.
Many students struggled with feeling overwhelmed and came up with the solution of utilizing their executive board more, whether to help set up an event or stay after a meeting to help plan for the next event.
After the discussion, students were asked one thing they took away from their experience of being a leader at St. Joseph’s. While most students said they learned time management and organization, for some, their experience was more personal.
“I was very quiet in high school and I did not like speaking in front of people,” said Julia Ruocchio ’24, president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. “I feel like being the president of a club has given me no choice but to do that, so I’ve grown to be more comfortable and I get less and less nervous for our meetings because I feel more comfortable speaking in front of others.”
