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Leadership, diversity and unity at FGCU

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EN Photo / Jack Lowenstein

One of the aspects I love about FGCU is how important diversity is in the student body.
As an incoming freshman, I have gone on multiple tours of the university, gone through orientation and have participated in a number of programs that are designed for students to become more knowledgeable about what the university stands for.
One of the programs I attended recently was called Frosh Mosh. Frosh Mosh is a leadership retreat centered on improving leadership and team building skills, learning about diversity and making connections.
At the beginning of the retreat, Dyonne Bergeron, the assistant dean and director of the Multicultural and Leadership Development Office, and the Mosh Pit leaders told us how this weekend will change our lives and to enjoy this experience to the fullest. I did not know what to expect and was wondering how or why I should expect one weekend to change my life. As it turns out, Frosh Mosh impacted me to an extent I had never expected.
It felt like everyone in the program went away to camp together, but at the same time, it was not all fun and games. After initially meeting everyone and starting to form small bonds in our respective small groups the first night, everyone was thrown into almost completely different groups the next morning.
In these groups we had to complete tasks that required you to trust and work together with your team. The most memorable would have to be an exercise where your team had to flip a mat completely over with all eight people in your team on the mat at all times. Let it be said that this mat was incredibly small for eight people, so if you did not want to fall, you had to physically hang onto your teammates to stay balanced (strangely, not awkward).
The rest of the program included 50-people discussions about serious issues in society and various exercises to learn more about ourselves and each other. We also had smaller meetings with our initial groups about our days. I made connections with people I will be sure to continue in the fall.
Frosh Mosh has left me with a renewed sense of excitement for the upcoming semester. My overall experience at the leadership retreat was extremely fun and absolutely unforgettable.
My experience at Frosh Mosh taught me that diversity is not just about the color of someone’s skin or their particular culture. Diversity is about what experiences a person has had and who they are as a person.
Today’s society can sometimes tempt or even force a person to put him or herself in a box when, in reality, we are all different. I think that is part of the reason FGCU pushes leadership, diversity and unity. If we all accept each other’s differences for what they are and understand that no one is perfect, we can then come together in a united front. In today’s times, that seems like a ridiculously simple solution to complicated situations, but it is the truth.
Part of being a leader being able to embrace diversity, unite the group of people you are trying to lead, and the will to step out of the box our society has tried to put people in.

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