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The Last Secret of STRiVE

The situation started to get unpredictable on the afternoon of the first day. We were standing in a big circle, in the middle of a planned activity, when somebody suddenly initiated a kick-wave. It took a few tries, but soon enough we were all following the wave around the room, kicking and shouting in turn. Then there was a song about pie. And then a thousand more inside jokes, spontaneous celebrations, heartfelt contributions and courageous confessions. Right at the beginning I had stood up in front of the participants and said that 10% of what would happen at UMBC's STRiVE student leadership retreat would emerge from the coaches' plans, and 90% from the participants themselves. Turned out I was wrong; over the course of the 5-day retreat, it was more like 3% to 97%.

Billing STRiVE as a leadership retreat is accurate as far as it goes. Participants are exposed to cutting-edge leadership concepts and reflect on their own styles and values. They learn important lessons about how to initiate and bring about change for the common good. But what really takes their breath away and changes their lives--not to mention their coaches' lives--is the experience of building and becoming an unbelievably vibrant and tight-knit community from a group of strangers, all in a few days. Participants emerged from last week's event knowing that they were free to be themselves, that they had important contributions to make, and that in this diverse group, they truly belonged. All of us made this possible together. And we were absolutely over the moon about it! Even before the retreat bus reached Commons Circle, Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with ecstatic comments about the experience.

STRiVE is such a departure from the posturing and evasions of everyday life that it can feel like a Narnia: a self-contained, magical world to which few can ever hope to return. But I know otherwise. The last secret of STRiVE is that everyone has the capacity to liberate the authentic, hopeful, open and loving selves within us all, and to build communities in which we all can thrive. That's real leadership. The 61 people who did this for each other at STRiVE last week now carry the inspiration from having succeeded at it. I know we'll continue to learn from the experience, and bring that STRiVE spirit to every community we ever touch, on campus and beyond.



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Posted: January 15, 2012, 9:32 PM

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