Abstract of Project:

 

I did a 4-day orientation called Thunder U for Southern Utah University. The orientation included working with a group of about fifteen students every day and leading them around and answering their questions. I was what they called a team captain. A team captain is someone who was there to make sure that each student in their group found a connection to SUU and had a friend that they can talk to and rely on throughout their time here at the University. Each day ranged from 8 to 12 hours that we were required to be in attendance. I put in about 44 hours of volunteer work in those four days and another 8 hours for the training in preparation for Thunder U. I kept a positive attitude and helped others enjoy the experience. I improved the experience the incoming students had with their first exposure to SUU. I took pictures with my phone and recorded the experience on my computer.

 

Larger Purpose:

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By completing the project, I was able to know more about leadership and how to help those with different backgrounds. I will use this to help me better run a business where I will be the leader and have people respect me enough to trust my decisions.

 

By completing the project, I was able have a better experience here at Southern Utah University and make a difference to the students that will go here. This will help me reflect on past experiences and know how to help those that are in need of help and know when someone is needing help but is unable to or will not ask for the help.

 

By completing the project, I was able to gain experience working with people who have different backgrounds and know how to best help them according to their situation. This will help relate to more people in my career as a veterinarian.

Project Goal:

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Goal 1:

• I will lead a small group of incoming students to increase my ability to lead groups of people and gain their trust.

• I was able to achieve this goal because the students were willing to follow me and hung out after orientation ended which showed some trust but it was a little hard to judge how much trust was actually built.

 

Goal 2:

• I will reach out to students and talk to them to increase my ability to interact with people that have different backgrounds than me.

• I was able to achieve this goal by talking to as many students and parents as I could in making sure they knew where they needed to be and that they felt welcomed to the campus.

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1-3 Outcome(s):

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By completing the project, I was able to know more about leadership and how to help those with different backgrounds. I will use this to help me better run a business where I will be the leader and have people respect me enough to trust my decisions.

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By completing the project, I was able have a better experience here at Southern Utah University and make a difference to the students that will go here. This will help me reflect on past experiences and know how to help those that are in need of help and know when someone is needing help but is unable to or will not ask for the help.

 

By completing the project, I was able to gain experience working with people who have different backgrounds and know how to best help them according to their situation. This will help relate to more people in my career as a veterinarian.

 

Deliverable(s):

 

I took photos of my experiences and videos of the some of the events that I plan on submitting. I also have schedules and programs explaining the events during Thunder U that I will hand in. I need to get more copies because the one I have are pretty beat up, so I will add those to the folder later.

 

Key Takeaways:

 

Lessons learned

In the last few summers of coming to SUU I have been a part of the orientation process and its changes that have taken place. The summer of 2016 I was actually one of the people in charge of the team captains. It was cool to take a step back this time around and see how things were run as a team captain. It was a big learning process for me to follow and do my best as a follower and not be the leader that I was the time before.

            I was also able to be with my students a lot more than the year before which was very nice. I learned more about their personal strengths and weaknesses. I also had to adjust my leadership style in order to best accommodate my peers. I learned that not only one type of leadership will make the cut. You need to be flexible and work with what you have. It is also about being a good follower.

 

Future plans

            This project allowed me to see how being a leader is so much more than being the guy in charge. It showed me that a good leader is a great follower and is willing to do the “dirty” work and be the first one to volunteer to do that kind of work. I will be able to use this to help those that will be around me to help motivate them and help them feel like I am their equal instead of their superior. I wish I would have been better at trying to relate to more of my students and trying to see how they felt about things. I think that the opinions of those you are leading are the most important thing to listen to because it can lead you to conclusions that will not only help the activity progress but will help make it more relatable and memorable. In my future, I will be in charge of a business which takes a lot of leadership skills. I hope that this project will act as a stepping stone to help me best lead the business and those that work for me to have success.

 

Estimated Cost:

 

Opportunity cost is the time spent on the project that I could have been working. I estimated it cost me $10.00 per hour to be a Team Captain.
 

Item/Material                        Date Purchased         Cost

Materials for a Sign               8/23/2017                   $26.43

Paint                                       8/23/2017                   $23.85

Opportunity Cost                  8/23-26/17                  $440.00

 

TOTAL COST                                                             $490.28

 

Timeline:

 

Thunder U went from August 23rd, 2017 to August 26th, 2017.