As a way to force myself to write honestly I practice this method of freewriting where I sit down and just type, without thinking too much on what I'm going to say, but just letting the words speak for themselves. Often times I find that I come up with an idea that I never thought of, or something that hadn't occurred to me which is always nice. This time I'm going to use a few topics though to get me going, So long as I don't go back and edit for spelling or punctuation, what you see in this blog will be first draft stuff, just kind of a thrown together idea salad.

annnnnd go

Today was the Student Affairs Leadership Training and I wasn't thrilled to wake up for it because I wasn't really sure what to expect other than what people had told me, about how boring it was. I found myself genuinely enjoying it though as I went from presentation to presentation.

The first one I went to was called 'Dialogue: Skills for Conversational Engagement' and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was interesting to think about how people talk and converse differently and I would definitely like to learn more on the topic so I can become a better conversationalist and really get to the meat of what people are trying to get across. Plus, the facilitator who was leading the presentation was awesome, I want to go back and talk more with the guy to get one on one tutoring because he was so successful at what he did; I respected that.

The next one was called 'F.I.S.H.!' and it was about empowered leadership.What it was really trying to get across were four main components on how to be a better leader. I saw myself using this more in my Chicago Quarter Mentor role as I teach first year students about things that they won't necessarily need right away in their college careers but can run into situations I talk about later on. The four components on making a class more enjoyable, according to the presentation was (1) Play, (2) Know Your Audience, (3) Choose Your Attitude, and (4) Be There. I won't delve too much into details about each one because it would just be me summing up the whole presentation, which I don't want to do. Anyways, I can definitely see myself using those things come the start of next fall!

We had lunch and I sat next to my co-RA's. Everyone as really nice and outgoing in bringing people into the conversation, they definitely made me feel at home.

The final presentation I went to was 'There's No "I" In Team' and it was about getting to know the people around you and how Icebreakers are a good way to develop relationship. As a proponent of community and communication I can still say that I hate icebreakers. I may have been better served by going to another presentation.

After some concluding statements the RA's were separated into their halls and had individual meetings. UAC went back to Housing Services and had our meeting and then toured the facilities. I'm upset we didn't learn where we were staying just yet. I hope I'm living on the 1st floor of Sanctuary. Out of all the rooms I definitely was drawn to that the most and hope that the fates see to grant my room appointment in the favor I want.

That was my little bit of SALT talk that I had, the whole thing lasted from 9a-5p. I decided to opt not to go out tonight, I haven't had much sleep the past few days; next week FOR SURE, I already have some things lined up, which is always a good sign.

Now, I will try and get some rest, wake up tomorrow and write a poem that I've been trying to write all week. I just can't seem to get the right words to match up. Gah!

Thus concludes the Freewriting exercise