SLU 101 Orlando: Excelence in All Things Part 1

"Have an understanding on the front-end so you don't have a misunderstanding on the back-end."

~Stephen Cobey

That was what was told to us the very first day we stepped into the conference room. Dr. Jay Strack, the founder of Student leadership University (SLU) told us that the week of SLU 101 was going to, hopefully, change our lives; he was right!
The next view blogs will be in a "mini series" because as I digest the information, I will, in turn, share with you my thoughts. SO much was taught to about 200 students this past week or so. SLU is a christian-based conference, where teenagers are given the chance to learn tactics of leadership that leaders in big companies are currently learning, right now.  These programs are designed to give us E.P.I.C. opportunities

Experiental

Participatory

Image-Rich

Community Connected

During this time, we under took a large amount of information (and a lot of quotes too) and it was all done in four days. We arrived in Orlando, FL around 11:45, from there we were shuttled to the Marriott hotel. WE were told that the amount that we paid for SLU would pay for itself 3-4 times over dues to the generous donors and partnerships connected with SLU. They chose the Marriott because they said that "There has to be a times when the little boy (or girl) has to sit down and the man (women) stand up" That translated meant that if we were serious about our faith (and leadership skills) then we needed to start acting like leaders and take action; He went on to explain that teenagers can be seen as ones that can't accomplish anything, yet he was going to prove that we could and act like sophisticated individuals, therefore, we were in a business hotel, and had to go as far as eating formally...the whole nine yards.

We were held on a University Schedule (up by 5:30 and curfew at 11:30) and on that Monday, we had had 6 sessions! The first being the focus on Excellence. Dr. Jay had taught this one and explained that the symbol of excellence was everywhere and it is usually the symbol of "The Bald Eagle" and it is used because an eagle has a vision so sharp and can focus on it's target from over two miles away! Again here came another quote, "Vision is the single leadership quality, but we also need to focus."

The rest of that day was filled with amazing knowledge and in fact fun. I went with the expectations of an AP class and boring....well, I did get that AP level material, but it felt different; it was interesting and I met a lot of fun people! To summarize the rest of that first lesson was focused on that we need to be active and set a dream and strive to achieve it! Here's another one of those fun "flow charts" that I love, then I'll let you go for now.

Idea ----> Plan ----> Dream

                (simple)     (idea w/ thought)  (a plan with action)                 

So there is a little snid-bit of the first day of SLU and I will, hopefully, be blogging later on this, however, it may be interrupted by some other important articles, such as the arrival of my airman brother =]

Have a great day! and thanks for reading!!

Your friend,

         Josh