Leadership Retreat 2008

Today we returned from the 2008 Leadership Retreat, and it was a great time just like last year. This year we went to Princeton, NJ and stayed at the Westin Hotel. We left the Garret Mountain campus around 1:30pm and arrived about 2:30ish. As soon as we entered, we were astonished to see how beautiful the hotel was. While on the bus we got our keys and proceeded to our rooms. This year, I was happy to see that we got to room with people from our own campus instead of people from other campuses. Even thought that was a good way to meet people, it was nice to see a familiar face when you woke up.

My roommate and I got to our room and immediately noticed that the phone was not working nor did the door lock. We were surprised because nobody else was having problems besides us. We went down to the front desk to complain and the service was great. Our whole group had mostly the 400th floor which we could not be moved to because it was filled. Because of the inconvenience, they upgraded us up to the Executive Suite with free hors d'oeuvres and breakfast!!! Even though we had all meals provided by Berkeley it was great to have an extra snack whenever we felt like it.

As soon as we got there, we had about 20 minutes to get ready then go downstairs to start our meetings and workshops. The workshops were really fun and entertaining. We were divided into teams and our goal was to come up with ideas and a proposal for Berkeley to be more environmentally friendly. At the last day of the leadership we got to show our presentations to the group and listen to others.

Some of the activities that we did were very fun and entertaining. For example we had Karaoke night the first night we were there. We had a pool and a hot tub which we all made a good use out of. We had a gym that was open 24 hours a day which was great for people who like to exercise during off hours. We also did activities that helped us get to know each other. For example we had to bring one item for show and tell and explain why that piece is important to us. Another fun activity was doing a Lifeline exercise where we drew a lifeline and showed the ups and downs of our life. This really helped us get to know each other and make us feel comfortable around each other.

In the evenings we had free time to ourselves which was great! We went to downtown Princeton and explored all the little streets in the area with shops. We ended up getting some Starbucks hot chocolate since it was so cold outside. Since there was not much to do besides go to bars and/or restaurants we ended up exploring the Princeton University campus which was amazing.

The trip really ended up being a lot of fun and entertaining. It was a great time for students and staff to bond and figure out how to be great leaders. It really helped me understand who I am, and how I can help Berkeley College and the community.