"They blindfolded us and put us in a maze. Then they blocked the exits. The purpose of the exercise was to learn to ask for help—because there was no way out of that maze without help. Eventually they had to let me out or I’d still be in there.”
CEE senior Stephanie Carter gave up six days of her winter break to learn lessons like this one. Carter, along with 59 students from across the College of Engineering (22 from CEE) were transported to a camp in the middle of the Redwoods (no cell phone and iffy Wi-Fi) to think about what matters to her the most—and learn how to share what matters with others through the cultivation of her unique leadership style.
These students were participants in the LeaderShape Institute, a not-for-profit educational experience designed to develop within students the qualifications to become extraordinary leaders.
“As engineers we see a problem and we focus on how to solve it,” said Alex Trehan, CEE senior. “LeaderShape got me to ask why I try to solve the problems that I do. And as I understand my own ‘why,’ how can I inspire others with my ‘why’ and in the process, inspire leadership in them?”
Another exercise tasked students to coordinate efforts after an earthquake. “Some people were the conscientious leader, others wanted to dominate—actually you could see the dominating type throughout all the exercises—yet all these styles still had to work together,” said CEE sophomore Jeff Kwan, “I needed everyone to feel heard. I was a consensus builder.”
Students were grateful for this rare opportunity to get to know their cohorts from other engineering departments within the College. And they quickly grew close in the atmosphere of acceptance created by Institute facilitators.
“We were encouraged to say things we wouldn’t normally say, and when we did, our comments were always accepted, never attacked,” said Kwan.
“After six long days together, we felt we had really gone through something,” Carter said.
See A high-stepping boot camp, COE Innovations, March 2011.
LeaderShape was sponsored by the Engineering Student Services office of the College of Engineering and funded by the generosity of the RECARE Foundation.