Student Leadership Forum

Since the pioneer days, St. Louis has been known as the Gateway To The West. For those who came through the city, in those days long ago, St. Louis was seen as a passageway to new opportunities and the starting point for a new life.

And while those students coming to St. Louis for the Fall 2005 Student Leadership Forum may have been traveling by plane instead of chuckwagon, their hopes for new opportunities in the "Gateway City" were no less than those of the past pioneers.

Since it began in 2001, the Forum has been hailed as a life changing experience time and time again by its participants. The Fall 2005 Forum, held November 3-6, proved to have a similar impact on its attendees.

"I had done some reading on it, and looked on the internet, and a lot of people found it to be life altering and a wonderful experience. So I knew it would be something significant in my life, and I am so glad I came," said Anne Stankiewicz of Susquehanna University.

Stankiewicz, who was awarded the F. Byron Nahser Leadership Award, explained that the $1000 that came with the award would not be all she would take home with her. "I found this weekend to be very insightful and inspiring, and it came at a time during my senior year of undergraduate school when I needed it most," she said.

Those sentiments were further echoed by the comments of many other participants.

Illinois State University student Jason Eidenberg described the Forum as "priceless and unforgettable." Schoolmate Stephanie Remus commented that the forum was an "amazing self-reflection experience."

"The Forum pushes you to think about your life and the choices that you will be forced to make," said Stephanie Secord of Grand Valley State University. "It broadens your view of leadership, and you will get as much out of the Forum as you are willing to put in."

Meanwhile, Lisa M. Clear from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said the Forum, "while being more fun than I could imagine, has pushed me to want to be as successful as I possibly can and find the way to do that."

The Forum, combining aspects of team-building, social activities, networking, and self-reflection, helps participants push the limits of their own boundaries and leadership abilities.

John Bly, a graduate of Bryant University and a participant in the very first Student Leadership Forum, was in St. Louis as a mentor for the participants of the Fall 2005 Forum.

"The lessons you learn at this Forum are invaluable, they are very different from what you learn in a regular classroom," Bly said. "I would say that the Leadership Forum is about making you a better leader. It's not neccessarily about making you the top manager for bringing in revenue, it's more about making you involved in knowing what other people's problems are, what your problems are, and really all aspects of making you a more grounded person."

In all, 84 student leaders from the world's best business schools became "more grounded" during the Fall 2005 Forum.

Among those participating in the latest forum were Marte Dagre, a student representative from Aston University in the United Kingdom, and Ana Belén Fenández García, a student attending Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico. Dagre and García were the first attendees of the Forum from their respective chapters (and countries), both established in 2005.

The next Student Leadership Forum will be held February 9-12, 2006 in San Diego, California. Work is also underway for the Fall 2006 Student Leadership Forum, to be held November 2-5 in Coral Springs, Florida.

For more information about the Forum, or to reserve a space for one of your students, contact Mary Wiedman in the Central Office.

For a glimpse at the Forum in action, and an opportunity to hear from actual participants, check out Beta Gamma Sigma's new video "The SLF Experience."