Leadership Capstone, Colorado

  Last week, I took my second trip to Colorado in three months.  Actually, I just realized I forgot to write about my time at the World-Changers' Summit!  To quickly describe it: it was incredible!

  This trip to Colorado was a four-day leadership intensive for school.  I am currently taking Dr. Jeff Myers' third leadership course, titled Leadership Learning & Execution.  Sixty-one other students and I are in week seven of eleven of this class.  I have taken Dr. Myers' two other leadership classes also: Leadership Theory & Practice and Leadership Management & Communication.  These courses have all been amazing!  This third class has been focusing on mentoring, which has been such a blessing!  I started mentoring two girls last fall and I love it!  But since I have never been mentored, I had no idea how mentoring worked...just that I felt called to do it.  I was so excited to find out mentoring was the focus of this class!  I have a mentoree and a mentor for this class, both of whom have been blessings to me!  When a student completes all three classes of the Signature Leadership Courses, they receive a leadership certification for completing over 360 hours of leadership training!  I'm looking forward to receiving that in about a month!

  The one thing that differentiates this class from the other two is that there is a four day Capstone mid-way through.  Everyone in the class gathered in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado to learn together!  Although I didn't know what to expect and was a bit nervous about meeting my fellow students, I was really excited to hear Dr. Myers speak.  And my nervousness quickly melted away when I met my roommates!

they were the best.

we spent way too long taking these group selfies.

  We stayed in our room the first....two hours....and just talked.  It was never so easy to carry on conversation than with these girls!

"Planning is everything, but plans are nothing."

~Dwight Eisenhower

  The sessions were beyond amazing, in my opinion!  I had heard Dr. Myers speak in person at the World-Changers' Summit in January, but unfortunately he only spoke for one session there.  Last week, we heard him speak for over eight hours, and it was the general consensus that we could have listened for hours more!  All we would have needed were snacks and bathroom breaks, and listening to him for 24/7 would have been welcomed and easy! :)  I learned many principles last week about mentoring and coaching that I cannot wait to apply!

  I also had the opportunity, on the second night, to sit at the dinner table with Dr. Myers along with about eight others (although, by the end, that crowd had grown to about fifteen).  My roommate, also sitting at the table, asked him, "Dr. Myers, what do you love most about your job?".  First, you should know that Dr. Myers is the president of Summit Ministries, a very successful and highly regarded ministry.  And his answer was this, "I love being able to help others succeed at their jobs."  Wow!  I was blown away by his humility and wisdom as he continued to explain.

"I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing."

~Ronald Reagan

  Another highlight of the week occurred the first evening.  My CollegePlus coach, Heidi, showed up!!!  She had four students there last week, so she surprised all of us by coming!  Heidi has been my coach since the beginning of CollegePlus...three years ago.  It was so fun to finally meet her in person and get to know her better!

  On the second day, there was about two hours of "unstructured activities" (must be the grown-up way of saying "free time").  I joined a small group of people who were going to spend some time in worship.  In the end, we sang for about two and a half hours!  It was such a blessed time of worshiping our Lord together.

  For a few projects throughout the Capstone, we were split into ten groups.  My group consisted of eight others.  They were so fun to hang out and work with throughout the week!  It was so encouraging to hear the dreams they have to serve the Lord and further His kingdom...I'm excited to see what He does through each of them as we stay in touch!

thanks, Jeanne, for joining our group!  we loved having you with us!

"God doesn't just reveal His plans; He reveals Himself."

  The last night, since we didn't have sessions in the morning, I decided I didn't care how much sleep I got (a common decision the last night of CP gatherings).  One of our roommates was leaving at 3am, so we decided to stay up with her.  Around midnight, some girls across the hall invited us over to watch a movie.  So...seven of us squished on a double bed to watch an action film on an iPad.  It was so fun, and photo-worthy...unfortunately, we were too tired to think of that.  I ended up getting about three hours of sleep that night.  :)

  I had a later flight (5:30pm) on Saturday, as did several others.  We were able to sit at the airport together for about four hours before we all split.

Liz and I at the airport

  And eventually, it was time for me to say goodbye to these beautiful mountains.

  Overall, it was a blessed time where I learned a ton, met a lot of new friends, and had such a fun time!  These classes are awesome and unfortunately, there's only three.  I will be savoring these last few weeks of this class!  Although, I do have to admit that I'm pretty excited for the three week break I get after its done. :)  

 God bless,

   Sierra