MIDDLETOWN- Learning a subject, skill, or process, involves breaking down knowledge into shareable bits of knowledge. Becoming a leader is no different. It is teachable. And, the students of SUNY Orange can choose from a selection of options to acquire meaningful leadership skills including the unique and award-winning program, “I am a Leader,” which began in the 2014-15 academic year and is now in its 10th year.
The multi-session series has been recognized by the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) Mid-Atlantic Region as an Outstanding Leadership Program in 2016. All currently enrolled degree-seeking students can sign up for this series of workshops and projects designed to teach leadership skills.
The content is continuously reviewed by a select faculty and staff committee and updated for relevancy. For example, during the pandemic, using online platforms to deliver meaningful presentations meant making nimble decisions to address this need. The program has been streamlined from six to four meetings with less lecture time and more hands-on interactive activities, providing practical knowledge and real-life experiences.
“Leadership is learned. You can practice. It’s not necessarily a position, it is a role you play,” said the Director of the Center for Student Involvement Adrienne Victor.
For the 2023-24 academic year, the four sessions are Welcome Session and Team Building, Myers Briggs Type Indicator Workshop, Values and Ethics in Leadership and one meeting conducted by a guest speaker around effectively listening and communicating. Students must also participate in a group community service project, take an active college community role and deliver an end-of-series presentation to earn their certificate of completion.
Interested students apply online and provide their personal motivations for wanting to participate. This year, an interest in building leadership skills partners with overcoming fear for two applicants.
“The I Am a Leader program speaks to me as I am typically not the type of person to seek out leadership roles. However, I believe this program would help me build my leadership skills. Additionally, since being admitted to SUNY Orange, I’ve hoped to become more involved with the community on both the Newburgh and Middletown campuses. I hope through this program I can build more connections and provide more value to the community,” said Summa-Reign Baynes.
Maria Vidals-Pita shared, “Throughout high school, I was scared to join anything, and I think I have great ideas. So now that I’m in college and no longer in high school, I would love to use my voice and join as many things as possible. I also believe there’s always room for improvement and I would really love to improve as much as possible.”
By the end of the “I am a Leader” series, students have a variety of experiences. They next choose up to three leadership traits deemed critical to positive leadership. Many focus on accountability, open-mindedness, or decisiveness, to name a few. Students present their findings to their leadership fellows.
“The ‘I am a Leader,’ program allows participants to experience other perspectives from other students, from talking with faculty and staff and it is important for students developing their leadership skills to have the opportunity to interact with others,” said Ashely Lopez who completed the program during the 2022-23 school year.
Asked what part of the experience seemed most memorable and impactful, Lopez answered, “Dr. (Kristine) Young, the College president, spoke to us about resilience and being able to bounce back as it relates to leadership. Not everything a leader does is going to be a win, make everyone happy, or promote agreement. The goal is to lead people to the best outcome.”
Lopez is also a member of the Student Senate, previously holding officer positions and an active Board of Activities participant. “I do think the College offers several different leadership opportunities and they all build on each other. The I am a Leader program meets less frequently than a traditional class or club, it is very helpful and open to everyone.”
“I think the greatest achievement of the program is that after each year, students report an improved confidence in their own leadership capabilities,” Victor said, “At the start of this year, participants were asked to list what they thought were qualities of a leader. One common overlap from every participant was ‘confidence.’ If this program continues to help students build that confidence in themselves, we’ll keep it around for sure!”
Although not everyone is familiar with football coach Vince Lombardi, many are familiar with his quote, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made.” These famous words are often paraphrased or summarized, but they remain relevant. Leadership is a learned skill. It can be learned in a classroom, leading a club or organization, in student government, or as a volunteer. Many opportunities to learn leadership skills are available at SUNY Orange
