A new initiative at Pellissippi State Community College is helping students gain the skills they need to be successful in the classroom, on the job and beyond.
The Pellissippi Student Leadership Institute launched this summer as an opportunity to help students become better student organization leaders, but also to provide skills training that hasn’t been formally presented to students in the past.
“While we have traditionally had wonderful student organizations with opportunities for students to grow as leaders, we’ve never had a comprehensive student leadership program,” Student Engagement and Leadership Director and program organizer Sharon Couch said. “We’re working on the premise that great leaders aren’t just born, they’re equipped and trained with the skills they need to become great.”
The three-day training included sessions to help students determine their strengths and define their values. They heard from college leaders who described how actions, mission and vision should align with those values. Team building exercises included a pickleball tournament and a whitewater rafting outing.
Business major Kevin Bridges, president of the Pellissippi State chapters of the National Society of Leadership and Success and Phi Theta Kappa, said facing a breaking wave from the front of his raft helped him internalize one of the most important lessons of the three days. The person in the back of the raft led the team to keep paddling into the intimidating water, Bridges said.
“Looking at that wave, I didn’t want to power through,” Bridges said. “But everything came together for me in that moment. I realized that’s what leading is all about. You have to push through even when it’s scary.”
Bridges is one of approximately 60 student members of this year’s inaugural cohort which includes student leaders from the Student Government Association, Phi Theta Kappa, Rotaract Club, the National Society of Leadership and Success and others. They will continue activities with the Student Leadership Institute throughout the upcoming academic year.
In addition, the institute will host Leaders Who Lunch events for all interested students on Sept. 24 at the Hardin Valley Campus, Oct. 28 at the Blount County Campus and Nov. 21 at the Magnolia Avenue Campus. Contact engage.lead@pstcc.edu for more information.
Cohort member Louis Rey Valenzuela worked for several years as a youth director, restaurant manager and engineering technician before he decided to return to school at Pellissippi State last fall. Having managed people in his work, he said he originally “scoffed at the idea” of attending the leadership training before his wife convinced him to get involved.
“I’m 35. I have some leadership accolades,” he said. “So, I came in hesitant but with an open mind.”
The three days of guidance, advice and self-evaluation were incredibly valuable, he said.
“Dr. Couch showed us we can lead no matter where we are and what we’re doing,” he said.
“We learned that good leaders can see where they are, even if it’s not where they want to land, and know that they can make a difference in that moment,” he said. “That’s great stuff.”