Annual Asian Leadership Retreat

The Asian Culture Center holds an annual Student Leadership Retreat focusing on empowerment and leadership development. At little or no cost to participants, students participate in a variety of challenge and team-building activities at Bradford Woods, Indiana University's outdoor education facility. Many of the graduates of the Student Leadership Retreat go on to become leaders of our student organizations.

Whether you are a freshman or a senior, you are involved in a lot of organizations or none, or you are just interested in meeting new people and having a good time, we invite you to participate in our next Student Leadership Retreat scheduled the weekend after Labor Day. For more information, please contact acc@indiana.edu or call (812) 856-5361.

Quotes from participants at the 2006-07 retreat:

"The Bradfood Woods Retreat was an amazing experience!!! The many friendships that I gained throughout the experience and all the fun I had with these wonderful people are some of the great things I got from this retreat. I would never have thought that I could have such a great time with all of these people that I had just met. I learned that teamwork involves a “team” of leaders, not just one. The entire group must contribute for a team to be successful. I also learned a lot about myself during this adventure. I learned how to think outside the box when the solution is not right in front of me. I learned the strengths and weaknesses that I have and how to use them in my leadership role. I recommend this amazing experience to everyone who is open to it. It truly is a great way to improve yourself."

-- Aobo Zou, Asian American Association

"I enjoyed going through activities with people and getting to know them. I learned communication skills when facing issues."

-- Shuhei Ogawa, Japanese Student Association

"My favorite part of the retreat was meeting new people and working together in order to solve different problems. I liked that we had to trust each other and utilize each others’ strengths and weaknesses in order to make decisions as a whole. More importantly, we had to be open to everyone’s ideas and take them into consideration. I think this experience has taught me to keep these ideas in mind in order to be a more effective leader."

-- Jonathan Ramos, Filipino Student Association

"My favorite part of the retreat was probably just getting to know the other students from the other organizations."

-- Alice Cheng, Asian American Association

Article

The 2006-2007 school year kicked off into high gear with the Asian Culture Center’s annual Asian Leadership Retreat at Bradford Woods, Indiana University’s Outdoor Center, on September 9-10, 2006. Thirty student leaders from a variety of the 24 Asian and Asian American student organizations braved the elements for a weekend of icebreakers, networking, s’mores, teambuilding, leadership development, and of course, fun. Day one of the retreat was non-stop from morning until night. The morning sessions included icebreaker activities to help the participants get more familiar with one another and an opportunity to set personal goals for the weekend. With these goals in mind, the participants spent the afternoon completing a series of challenges aimed at enhancing their communication and teamwork skills. In the evening, the participants performed original skits which incorporated the day’s lessons with aspects of Asian culture. To top off the day, the student leaders had a chance to reflect on the day’s activities during the “night experience” and celebrated their performance over s’mores.

All of the activities of day one culminated into the ultimate teambuilding activity on day two. With only a few pieces of wood, some plastic barrels, loose rope, and their own ingenuity to guide them, the groups had to construct a raft that would carry all 8-9 group members across a small lake to safety. After two hours of designing and construction, one team was actually successful in getting their raft all the way across the lake! Thank you to all of our Bradford Woods participants for a wonderful retreat. We can’t wait for next year!

Wendy L. Ho
Graduate Asisstant
IU Asian Culture Center