by Olivia Rinesmith
This Saturday, four other Ohio State ATI students and I attended the Regional Student Leadership Retreat, held on the Columbus campus in the Ohio Union and presented by the Office of Student Life.
During our time at the retreat, we participated in several activities to build our leadership, communication and professional skills. We started off by doing icebreakers to get everyone in the room comfortable with each other. One of the activities we did was taking a survey on our love language. Love languages are how we can communicate with others and show our love in a way that others can understand. There are five different languages: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. If you know a person’s love language, it makes it easier to communicate with them on an emotional level.
Next, we held conversations about what makes a good communicator, how to network, and how to present yourself in the best way possible. Then we had an hour to go and explore the Columbus campus and enjoy lunch.
Our last activity dealt with conflict resolution. We got into groups and discussed things that we are bothering us within our lives and received feedback on how to address these issues.
The retreat gave me many knew skills as well as enhancing the ones I already had. It opened my eyes to take others’ wellbeing into consideration and to make sure everyone feels included. I truly believe that I have started new friendships and have made connections with students from the regional campuses. Looking at this picture truly shows that it doesn’t matter who you are or what campus you go to. We all are Ohio State Buckeyes.