Spring 2008"Usually your university doesn’t teach leadership. The Leadership Academy provides an understanding of how to organize yourself and others. It presents skills you don’t learn in the classroom,” says Mehrdad Karimi, an aerospace engineering major.
As a student leader in the CSULB chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Karimi was required to attend Student Life and Development’s one-day T3: Timeout for Teamwork and Training retreat to qualify as a student event planner. Karimi received a lot more than he expected out of the experience. “Every place I go, I see that I can take advantage of the skills I learned at T3. I know I’m going to be a better employee, even be a better father as a result of the Leadership Academy. I expect to use the skills from these classes for my entire life.”
Workshops include such topics as multiculturalism (meeting with a multitude of cultures and understanding how you view different people), teamwork and collaboration, finance and budgeting, time management and communication skills (including working with difficult people). Karimi explains, “Everyone should take advantage of Leadership Academy workshops. It is a great opportunity to make friends in other majors. I think it should be a requirement.”
“In the Leadership Academy, I learned how to communicate with others and how to design a cool t-shirt for an organization. I had the opportunity to organize a huge meeting for Boeing,” explains Karimi. “Leadership Academy improved my public understanding and my contributions to my career. You can use it for any major. I made connections through people. The skills I acquired in the Leadership Academy workshops help me present myself and my university and major. I’m not shy anymore!”
“The Leadership Academy team is very friendly and helpful. The students and staff are kind and friendly. If I have five minutes of extra time, I always go to the Leadership Academy.”
To join, stop by the Swanson Leadership Resource Center in the University Student Union, room 314, or sign up online at www.csulb.edu/leadershipacademy.
— Hayley Crombie is a recreation and leisure studies intern in the Lois J. Swanson Leadership Resource Center.
