In today's Zoom-permeated weeks, it takes a special kind of student dedication to spend Saturday mornings in a skill-building webinar - but that's the case in the MSU College of Engineering.
Around 200 Spartan Engineers spent three hours each Saturday in the CoRe Leadership Series, which began in January and ended Feb. 13. The virtual workshops were run by CoRe Co-Curricular Director Carmellia Davis-King and Peer-Leader Supervisor Villisha Gregoire from 9 a.m. to noon each Saturday. Many of the participants were freshmen and sophomores.
"It's an honor to work with these students," Davis-King said. "I value their eagerness and the dedication they are bringing to personal and professional growth."
Amanda Idema, assistant dean for Engineering Undergraduate Studies, said leadership topics cover communication, teamwork, integrity, diversity, equity and inclusion, self-care and self-promotion, along with professionalism and creativity.
"To have 200+ students logged into a webinar on a Saturday morning is nothing short of amazing," Idema added.
Computer engineering junior Tyler Vo called the leadership series informative.
"You can learn a lot about employer's expectations in this," he noted.
Mechanical engineering (ME) junior Kace Krauss described it as "a year's worth of important lessons in a few informative webinars."
"Incredibly insightful," said ME junior Alexandra Iorga. "Every speaker introduced their unique perspective on what it means to be a good leader. I loved hearing the speakers' personal stories. It helped me get a better understanding of what leadership means in the real world."
ME senior Chloe Ho said the series also cleared up some questions on future expectations.
"Sometimes it is difficult to know what happens after college and what it is like to work," she explained. "The series provides an idea on what life is like outside of school and what you can do with your degree and experiences to be a leader."
Added student Ian Valdovinos: "And there's no better way to start a Saturday morning than with a dose of insightful leadership talks while drinking a hot cup of coffee."
Find out more on CoRe at: https://core.egr.msu.edu/#section1