This reflection is part of SUM-400, used to connect back to Co-Curricular SLO #7 (Recognize, analyze, and employ effective teamwork) and #12 (Cultivate and maintain interpersonal relationships and networks). These learning outcome, along with the other SLOs and MLOs, can be found on this page
Final Legacy Prep (2018) by Katie Curtin is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC Licence
Legacy is the first step of Agnes’ leadership development curriculum, starting directly after New Student Orientation. The program begins with an analysis of the student’s strengths as told by the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. I’ve watched my own strengths grow and change over my time as a Legacy leader, but my most recent results are found in the “Strengths” tab on this page. This session is followed by collaborative team-building activities. The next day opens them up to leadership in their time at Agnes Scott as they meet with their Foundational Leadership Skills Seminar professor and some of the student leaders on campus. At the end of the day, we travel to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the World of Coke to discuss leadership in a global society.
At the end of my first year, I applied to (what was then) Orientation Council on a whim, partly because my roommate was considering it and spoke so highly about it. My first-year orientation experience wasn’t the best, so I wanted to try to prevent that from happening for other students. I expected to come in, lead new students through the week of orientation, and be done with it. And that’s not what happened at ALL. Dean Honi Migdol surprised us by telling us we would also be taking on the role of leading Legacy.
This wasn’t really something that I looked forward to. I was horribly shy and had a lot of problems talking in front of my peers. How was I going to lead a group of 30 or more new students through icebreakers and leadership development activities? How was I, a sophomore who was younger than half of the incoming students, supposed to lead them through the college’s signature leadership immersion experience when all they (and, quite honestly, I) wanted to do was climb into bed? To this day, I’m still shocked that I can facilitate team-building activities in an efficient way. The confidence that the experience, along with those from the second and third year in the role, makes me feel like I can do just about anything; if I can stay positive and influential after 12 hours of hard work, I can keep that attitude through an 8-hour workday or a 4-hour conference.
Featured image: “Orientation Leaders 2018” by Katie Curtin (2018) is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC Licence
