At first, the thought of spending a week of my summer away from home in college dorms was definitely intimidating. However, after some thought, I was quick to apply to the Business and Entrepreneurship program at the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) at the University of Washington.
NSLC is a program in which a select group of students get the opportunity to learn about an area of interest (varying from medicine to game design or even acting). Students spend 9-18 days at a college campus while attending various lectures about both leadership and their area of interest. Students also get the chance to be a tourist in their conference area through visiting the many tourist sites nearby. In addition to all this, students get a taste of college life through living in the college dorms, eating in the college dining halls, and being away from home!
As my dad drove up to the infamous Haggett Hall dorms, my mind raced through any excuses I could find to get my dad to turn back and take me home instead of dropping me off at the old concrete building that Haggett Hall is. But my thoughts were soon cut off by the welcoming smiles of all the NSLC TAs standing outside. I stepped outside, grabbed my over-packed suitcase, and headed in to start what I would soon realize to be the best nine days of my life so far.
After checking in, I headed to my dorm room. I started looking around for the bathrooms, only to find out that there was one bathroom area on my whole floor for all the girls. Even more of a reason to leave that place. Just as I was about to call my mom to come take me back, there was a knock on my dorm door.
My roommate had just landed from Los Angeles. I finally had someone to talk to and occupy my mind. We walked around the UW campus a little to familiarize ourselves with the area while we talked about our shared interest of Math. It was crazy how quickly we found a common interest.
Soon after, all NSLC students were convened in their TA groups, the people we would be spending the most time with. People came from places all around the United States and even the world. I met people from Pennsylvania, Chicago, San Diego, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and so many more places. Among this lovely group of people, I met five incredible girls who I soon became very close with.
The first person I talked with in my TA group was a girl from San Diego. After just a couple minutes of talking, we got into a long discussion about fashion and clothes. Once again, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to find a common interest with someone I had only talked to for a couple minutes.
Throughout the next couple of days I got closer with many more people in the program. I noticed a pattern with everyone I talked with. Our conversation would start about where we are from/our hobbies and within ten minutes we would be engaged in a discussion about something we both love. The simple question of “what sports do you play” would result in the start of a brand new friendship.
Although this idea of having so much in common while having different backgrounds was so prominent throughout, I observed the emergence of different perspectives on many thoughts and ideas.
We would have multiple lectures throughout the day. One lecture that stood out to me was a lecture on privilege. We discussed how privilege affects how easy or difficult it is for one to achieve success. In addition, we talked about how success looks different for those from different backgrounds. The reason this lecture stood out to me is because it brought out mixed perspectives from people. A girl from New Mexico believed that success should not be affected by privilege because anyone who wants to achieve something will do it no matter what obstacles are placed in their way. Meanwhile, a girl from Ohio believed that people from less privileged backgrounds had it harder when it came to success because they don’t have the resources that the privileged had to become successful. While the two brought up great points, they didn’t quite agree with each other only because they had different perspectives. These perspectives were established based on the different experiences and morals they had growing up.
At the end of this conference, not only did I come away with some key information on business management and entrepreneurship but also with a new take on interactions among people. Everyone in the world can find something in common with one another, whether it's hobbies or goals or interests but at the same time everyone has different perspectives in life. By seeing and hearing about different perspectives, one can grow as a person and more easily empathize with others around them which is what makes one a great leader.
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