Thirty students launched this program with a retreat January 3-5 in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The program helps sophomore students discover who they are, where they want to go in life and how to get there. Students will meet during winter term and take a one-credit Transition Strategies course in the spring to craft a flexible life plan that integrates their academic, personal and professional goals.
Student cohorts led by facilitators Mallory Anderson, director of the center for leadership, Dr. Tina Das, professor of economics and Dr. Tim Peeples, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences kicked off the 5 month program with a retreat at the Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference and Retreat Center in Laurel Springs, NC. Students identified their strengths and passions, developed vision and purpose statements, learned how to turn goals into action strategies and were trained on building healthy support systems. Peer leaders and Elon upperclassmen, Noelle Clemente, Paige Hannah and Alaina Pineda helped reinforce the principles by sharing their own experiences with students.
“Across the short span of one weekend, I acquired the key elements to leading an entrepreneurial life.” Said senior Jessica Foust. “While discovering my strengths, passions and values, I simultaneously met a cohort of students who were striving to do the same. I am more than certain that the weekend planted seeds for audacious ideas and goals that will inevitably lead to paths of entrepreneurial success.”
The program is a collaboration between Student Life and Academic Affairs led by Dr. Smith Jackson, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students and Dr. Nancy Midgette, Associate Provost. Jackson and Midgette worked with the national leadership development company, New Mountain Ventures, to develop the program based on the book Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives by New Mountain Ventures Co-Founders, Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek. The weekend retreat was coordinated by Gergen and Rex Waters, Associate Dean of Students. Jodean Schmiederer, Assistant Dean of Students and Dr. Gary Palin, senior lecturer in entrepreneurship and executive director of the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership also attended the retreat.
Gergen commenting after the retreat said, “Over the course of the three short days, the students proved that they are not only passionate about leading an entrepreneurial life – but also committed to making it a reality. Elon is once again proving why it’s one of the most innovative universities in the country and we’re thrilled by the ongoing partnership.”