By: Ryan Chow

As an incoming 190H mentor, Sarah Scott (Q23) was given the opportunity to attend the LeaderShape 2015 national session in Atlanta, Georgia this past July. This program was a six-day conference intended to inspire university students from all around the country and challenge them to lead with integrity while working towards a vision grounded in their deepest values.

Initially, Sarah knew little about the program and assumed it would be just an extended leadership workshop to help enhance general leadership skills. Little did she know, this comprehensive experience would change her life and push her boundaries of leadership potential.

The LeaderShape program began with a few brief tests to assess Sarah’s own personality traits and leadership styles. The bulk of the time, however, focused on leveraging her unique skills to create a vision of the future that encompasses her deepest core values. All of this internal work required immense focus on self-reflection without any distractions, which was augmented by the fact that LeaderShape Atlanta took place in a secluded campground in the middle of the woods. Sarah’s vision heavily focuses on social justice issues, especially relating to the recently controversial topics of police violence, judgment, and unfair treatment. Finally, the program and its resources helped Sarah construct a short-term plan to pursue her vision.

Sarah is extremely thankful for this opportunity to learn from the LeaderShape program, meet more than fifty diverse student participants from all around the country, and magnify her benevolent vision of the future. This vision was further invigorated when a Mississippi student brought Sarah to tears after thanking her for pursuing this passion. She plans to apply these new leadership and empathy skills as a 190H mentor to students in Cohort 25. Sarah would especially like to thank the QUEST community and Robert Sheehan for providing her with this opportunity.