Katy at UBC

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the 2011 UBC Student Leadership Conference. This was attended by over 1000 students! Just before the opening ceremonies, I got a chance to snap this photo from the Chan Centre:

The opening speaker was Drew Dudley, who talked about how changing someone’s life can be as simple as giving someone a lollipop. In his case, he brought two people together with a lollipop, and that simple gesture changed their lives – they ended up getting married!

After the opening ceremonies, students dispersed to attend different featured presenters and workshops all over campus. These included talks about sustainability, food insecurity, and even LEGO! Lunch was provided by the SLC, and afterward, students had two more sessions of their choice. The great thing about the SLC is that you can customize you schedule to fit your interests.

After that was the closing ceremony, including the closing keynote speakers, The Buried Life. Dave did a little breakdance, and they talked about how they started the project. Most of them were still in University at the time, and they felt a little lost and overwhelmed, as some students can feel. They wondered if what they were doing was what they really wanted to do in life. (As a side note, Dave gained 45 lbs in his first year in Uni!) Then they related what they were doing to the idea of leadership, which was the topic of this year’s SLC. Sometimes you don’t seek out leadership, or even realize what you are doing is changing people’s lives, but just by doing what you think is right can be life-changing to others.

x

Tags: No Comments