Meeting Different Leaders

Today was an awesome day because it was the official first day at Brown. Class started at 9:30AM. For an hour and a half the class met each other through icebreakers. First we did a name game where everyone stated something they liked that started with the first letter of their word. The second one was a game consisted of two circle, one circle in the middle where the people faced outwards and a circle surrounding it where the people faced inward. Our instructor, Kisa Takesue, would ask us questions the weren't relatively asked.  Each person had a minute to answer the question and I feel that I scratched the surface. After the ice was broken Kisa handed out the syllabus' and explained our journal entries, reading assignments, the action plan, our essay, and our final presentations. Journal entries are due at the end of this week. Reading assignments are assigned every night. Our action plan needs to be presented in front of people outside of class. Our essays are due next Thursday. All these assignments have opened my eyes and realizing how short this program is. I wish it was a four week course where we can elaborate on women so much more. 

My new friend and classmate, Olivia!

At noon we all took a lunch break. During lunch I ate and I really needed to get a Bear Bucks card so I headed to the Brown Bookstore on Thayer St. Unfortunately, you can no longer put money on your school ID so you have to purchase the card( $1) and put money on it. Bear Bucks can be used for printing out paper, laundry, or even the vending machines in Perkins Hall. At 1:30PM class resumed with Dean Rose. Dean Rose talked about the importance of listening, using "I" statements, body language, asking open ended questions, and being engaged in a conversation. Today I learned that you can really tell if someone is engaged in a conversation through their body language; if their arms are crossed, if they are making eye contact, knotting, or even smiling. To end our first day of class, Kisa talked more about the action plan. She elaborated that you can do about anything but don't set yourself up for failure and that helped because I often think too big. People asked question and class ended at about 3:30PM.

During Community Time

Later on in the day all the leadership students had to attend "Community Time." Boy was it a huge crowd! During community we once again broke the ice by playing a body parts game. If the leader mentions any body part you would find someone and connect that body part with them; following that you would have to answer the questions being asked to your partner. At first I thought it was silly but it was a fun way to meet others. Eventually everyone branched of with their Leadership Fellow and moved into classrooms. The whole idea was to find what type of leader you were; North, South, East, or West. I thought it was a great idea because honestly you can never resonate with one leader because there's always going to be characteristics of other leaders that applies to you. Tonight I found out I am a South East leader. A South leader is a person that doesn't often say no, vulnerable, and pleases others. An East leader is a visionary. Knowing that there is a variety in leaders is great because now I understand everyone perspective. To conclude, today has been a successful first day and I hope to meet even more people than I already have.