Students explore importance of reflection in Leadership Experience presentations

How often do we take time to reflect on our experiences?

Madalyn Touma talks about her experience as a university brand ambassador for Tampon Tribe, a brand of all-natural, chemical-free tampons.

Madalyn Touma talks about her experience as a university brand
ambassador for Tampon Tribe, a brand of all-natural tampons.

That question is one of incredible importance to Maritza Torres, a graduate assistant at the center’s Leadership Learning Research Center who teaches the Leadership Experience course. The course is one of several offered by the LLRC, a partnership of the Center for Leadership & Social Change and the College of Education. Part of the Undergraduate Certificate in Leadership Studies, the course offers students in-depth education in leadership theory and practice. On Wednesday, students from Torres' fall class gave poster presentations about their vast array of experiences, what they learned, and how they applied leadership theory in those experiences.

Each student embarked on a unique experience relevant to their interests. Students worked as interns, volunteers, research assistants and other positions, each working for a specific cause. Logan Saliga, who worked in communications at The Children’s Campaign, a legislative advocacy group for children’s issues, presented just feet away from Madalyn Touma, who became a university brand ambassador for a brand of all-natural, chemical-free tampons.

Torres said that her main hope for the presenters was that they use their presentations as a way to reflect on their experiences.

Briani Mazur talks about her experiences working in a Tallahassee lobbying firm.
Briani Mazur talks about her experience working in a local lobbying firm.

“We’re in a society where we’re always so busy, we’re always on autopilot, and we never really take a minute to think about how our day was or how we impacted a person,” Torres said. “So I think it’s incredibly important to just take a minute to think and reflect.”

Many student presenters echoed Torres’ ideas about the importance of reflection.

Briani Mazur, who worked for the lobbying firm Robert M. Levy and Associates, explained how the skills she learned at her job will help her in her future career. She also appreciated how the work she did, which was primarily in disaster relief, allowed her to see her past in a new light. Mazur was in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and expressed how meaningful it was to see all the underground work during Hurricane Michael and understand how much the relief workers did actually care about what they did for her and her family years ago.

Alexa Rodriguez talks about her experiences at the Spring LLRC Poster Presentation.

Alexa Rodriguez talks about her Leadership Experience at the Spring LLRC
Poster Presentation on Feb. 27, 2019.

Another student, Remee Farah, worked at the Office of Adoption and Child Protection through the Governor’s Internship Program. She chose to center the bulk of her reflection around one moment: the day when she was able to see six children be adopted into six different families. She cited the moment as moving and something that “showed some of the goodness in the world.”

As Alexa Rodriguez discovered, one significant part of reflection is looking at the growth and change she has experienced throughout her time at FSU and in the Leadership Learning Research Center.

“I underestimate myself a lot, and when I started this certificate I didn’t consider myself to be a leader in any capacity, but I would consider myself to be one now," she said. "I never thought freshman me could rally a group of people and get them to listen, so to have the experience of putting this together and presenting this is amazing."

 

— Kendall McDonald