The Leadershape program is one of the best things you can do

“You may begin.”  I looked up and saw these words on the concluding slide of the Leadershape Institute. Three simple words that told us exactly what we were to do with the skills and lessons learned that week. I had a bit of a Hazel Grace moment because in that moment, we felt infinite – infinite, empowered, loved. I sat in a room with 40 or so other students who, at first strangers, became a group of individuals to whom I felt so strongly connected.

First, let me back up a bit. The LeaderShape Institute is a weeklong leadership program for college students that emphasizes living and leading with integrity as well as developing a value and passion based vision for the future. When I first signed up for this program, I knew very little about it. All I knew was that participants from previous years loved and that the contents of the program were kept extremely vague prior to the program.

As I got on the bus to Ponchatoula, Louisiana where the program was held, I had no clue how much this week would change my life. At first, I thought I was crazy for spending my first week of summer at a swampy retreat center in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people I had never met. I would soon be proven wrong.

Over these six days, we had difficult conversations and wonderful conversations. I learned how to open up, appreciate others, consolidate my passion into a vision and a plan for action, and have a healthy disregard for the impossible, a main theme for the weekend. Most of all, I was introduced to members of the Tulane community who truly care and whose passions span across a variety of subjects. They care about our campus culture, the environment, the future of our country, education accessibility worldwide, and the lives of other.

The people I met at the Institute were some of the most selfless and most promising individuals. As much as I love Tulane and the friends that I made during my first year there, it was refreshing to not only believe that they can change the world but are so driven to do so. Before this experience, I never would have been able to share my vision with 40 people I just met, let alone put my vision into words. There is nothing as endearing as finding that people believe in you as much as you believe in them– finding that people you think are so amazing and wonderful think of you the same. These are feelings that are so rarely felt, but feelings that make all the difference.

I believe the teachings of the LeaderShape Institute are so strong and valuable that the curriculum should expand beyond college students and their programs. Enforcement of integrity is rare, and commitment to integrity as a personal value is even more rare. The emphasis on integrity, vision, and breaking barriers creates an empowering environment as well as creates an effortless desire to offer understanding and support amongst all participants. LeaderShape has changed my perception of others, the world, and myself and is changing the college game by creating determined and responsible leaders.