This was my first time attending the International Student Leadership Conference. It was hosted by James Madison University located in Harrisonburg, VA. I was ecstatic to see a large number of students from different universities. Upon arrival, we were given a schedule for the next day and addressed by the key note speaker, Sahil Dhingra.
On the first day, Mr. Dhingra gave us a warm welcome and talked about what it means to be a leader. He touched various aspects such as trust, responsibility and ethics. This was followed by a series of interactive games that required team work. I was exhausted but had come to realize that this was going to be a great conference. The next day, we started off with individual sessions that addressed a variety of topics. My favorite speaker was Dr. Bob Kolidinsky who lectured on Ethical Leadership. His lecture was particularly interesting because he made strong arguments with supporting visual evidence. Most of us were surprised to see how companies cheat their clients on purpose. I learned the importance of ethics and basic qualities of a good leader such as honesty, fairness and more importantly integrity.
I hope to apply some of these things in the various leadership roles I take at the university and will strive to be the best I can be. The conference was very informative and motivational and I think everyone benefited from it.
– Jeet Ramji
