One of the most important lessons she says she has taken away from her time with the Center for Leadership is awareness that she can make a difference in the world. “If the Center for Leadership believed in my ability to accomplish the things I said I wanted to, then why shouldn’t I?” Abate said.

As Abate begins Tier II of the LEAD Program, she will be working to improve her group leadership skills, which she will be able to apply to her upcoming semester-long study abroad trip to Ecuador. After her Elon experience abroad, Abate plans on staying an extra two months to complete an internship in a different part of the country.

Abate says her work with the Center for Leadership has encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone, believe in her abilities as a leader and really grow. She explains that the skills she has learned make a difference in how she thinks about her future and will be applied and of value to whatever field she enters.

“I have appreciated how Morgan has actively engaged in the LEAD Program and then utilizes those skills as she demonstrates her leadership here and abroad,” said Steve Mencarini, director of the Center for Leadership.

In addition to her work with the Center for Leadership, Abate is also one of Elon’s Periclean Scholars. She has helped her class of Periclean Scholars reach out and engage with their country of focus.

Abate is also a member of The Pendulum and plans to continue writing through a blog while traveling, learning and leading in Ecuador.

Some of her many goals include expanding her non-profit scholarship-mentoring program, ScholarCHIPS, into a national program, becoming a professional part-time plus size catalog model and TV talk show host, and ultimately becoming a professor and minister. 

“These goals all touch on my passions in life,” she said. “I know if I dedicate myself, I can do it.”

Her experiences at 51±¬ÁÏÍø, both in and out of the classroom, have equipped her with a skillset to help put these plans into action. One of the most influential and rewarding experiences Arrington has been being a part of is the Center for Leadership’s LEAD Program. She considers the decision to join one of the best she’s made at Elon.

“The Center for Leadership helped me recognize and understand my strengths as a leader and how I can use those strengths for the betterment of those in my life and the organizations I am a part of,” she said.

The Center for Leadership has played a role in defining Arrington’s success at Elon and she still has a full year left on campus to continue making her mark and leaving her legacy. She said that the LEAD workshops and retreats ignite real-life discussion about recognizing privilege, how you identify yourself and how those two things impact how you view the world and interact with others.

“These are real life discussions that you rarely get to have in the classroom setting,” she said. “It makes me a more aware, informed and well-rounded person and that’s what true leaders ought to be.”

With a $750 grant from the Center for Leadership, Arrington was given the opportunity to step outside her comfort zone and study abroad. Additionally, she has landed internships at both PBS as a public relations intern and Ogilvy & Mather as an account management intern. She has conducted her own research on the effects of mass incarceration through her Elon College Arts & Sciences fellowship and has drawn national attention to the issue through her non-profit, ScholarCHIPS, having received recognition from media such as The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and Forbes.

“Yasmine is a powerhouse,” said Steve Mencarini, director of the Center for Leadership. “I have really enjoyed seeing Yasmine grow as a leader over the past few years. She’s already made a big impact on her various communities and it will only grow!”

In addition to the LEAD Program, Arrington is also involved with the 51±¬ÁÏÍø Gospel Choir, the 2015 Periclean Scholars, Elon College Arts & Science Fellows and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.

Since her freshman year, Fowler has been an active member. The center encouraged her to take on leadership roles across campus. Sophomore year she became student director of the Center for Leadership. She has served as a Resident Assistant and also is the current Residence Area Coordinator for the Station at Mill Point.

Fowler was named a Lumen Scholar her sophomore year. She has also been awarded the Sinclair Scholarship to help her pursue honors thesis research. Her topic of choice, about the evolution of LGBT rights in Central and Eastern Europe, was introduced to her by the Center for Leadership.

Her efforts to make a difference within the Elon community do not end there. Fowler is also responsible for creating an Elon summer service trip to Malawi, Africa. After three successful summers, this trip will be offered as an official Winter Term course starting next year. 

Although she will be graduating this May, Fowler’s global adventures will continue.  She was a finalist for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program in Croatia. Fowler hopes to work on minority rights in Central and Easter Europe upon graduation. Fowler plans to eventually move to Lithuania and help teach English to Croatian students and begin work on her own NGO focusing on LGBTQ activism.

When Mungall began her role as marketing director, the CFL was undergoing change. It had recently moved to a larger space on campus to accommodate growth and also re-vamped the LEAD Program, available to all students. “It was so amazing to be a part of all of that,” she said.

Mungall said it was the great people she worked with that made the Center for Leadership such a welcoming and supportive home. “Because of the environment of the Center for Leadership and what it stands for, it attracts a group of hardworking, fun, mature and caring leaders,” she said.

Having applied leadership lessons to all three of her internship experiences, Mungall knows that everything the Center for Leadership fosters has helped her spread her wings at Elon and will push her past the bubble.

“The Center for Leadership is always the first thing I talk about when explaining my qualifications in interviews,” she said. “It gave me the tools to shape myself. I am a more confident, self-aware person and leader, and a more successful student because of the work ethic and skills I learned.”

“Through her involvement in the CFL, Megan has been able to utilize her creativity and innovation to further the presence of our office and reach more Elon students,” said Dana Carnes, associate director of the Center for Leadership.

As a part of the 2012 Paricleans, she took part in their largest success in the planning of a Corporate Social Responsibility Conference in Pune, India surrounding women’s issues in India. The conference was held for rural non-profit organizations and corporations in order to encourage networking between the two.

The LEAD program has helped Hackney to more clearly identify the qualities and abilities within herself to become a leader.

“If you feel like you have leadership potential, I would encourage you to go for it,” Hackney said. “It is only going to help you reach your potential faster and at a higher level.”

Hackney’s time with the Center for Leadership at Elon has provided her with invaluable experience to use even after her time at Elon has come to an end.

“The Center for Leadership has helped me mature as a professional and as a leader much faster than I would have had I waited to do this professional development after I graduated,” she said.

LEAD is a program designed for students within all disciplines and aims to promote leadership development, recognition of authentic leadership, and inspiring students to engage in positive, social change.

Berk credits her Elon course work and the Center for Leadership for providing her with the tools to make a difference in the world. Berk has been involved with the LEAD program, Adventures in Leadership, and has completed the Leadership ELR with her recent leadership role as coordinator of an Alternative Breaks trip through the Kernodle Center.

“Academics train you how to be an expert in a particular field, but the LEAD program teaches you how to be an exceptional leader to create actual change,” Berk said.

Berk has already created actual change throughout her many trips abroad. She recently returned from leading an Alternative Break trip to Costa Rica where students worked on social projects with a local school and community members.

“The foundation of leadership knowledge that I have gained through the Center for Leadership has given me the confidence to seek out opportunities that I would have otherwise overlooked,” Berk says. “It has also helped me understand the type of leader I am and the kind of leader I would like to become and demonstrated to me the potential of what I could accomplish while at Elon.”

“Meredith wants to make a difference in this world,” said Steve Mencarini, director of the Center for Leadership. “It has been great to work with her on developing her strengths and engaging with her in creating positive change on our campus and beyond.”

Berk plans to attend graduate school for public health, with her dream career being to work for the World Health Organization.

Kurkjian has also led the creation of Elon’s Irish Dance Club. She is the co-founder and vice president and began the process of establishing this campus organization her first year at Elon. The club is currently in the developmental stage and Kurkjian is hoping to move it on to the provisional status soon. Elon’s Center for Leadership has supported Kurkjian as she works to make a part of her life—Irish dancing—an opportunity available for other Elon students who would like to continue practicing and performing this art in college.

Kurkjian’s engagement in leadership programs at Elon began her first year when she took a leadership focused Elon 101 class. This class inspired Kurkjian to participate in the Leadership Education and Development Program, or LEAD Program, which Kurkjian believes really has helped her to grow as a leader.

“I’ve been able to apply the lessons I’ve learned through the LEAD Program to my lifelong long love of Irish Dancing and my profession and passion—teaching,” Kurkjian says. “I am really grateful for the opportunities the Center for Leadership has provided me to strengthen my leadership skills and grow as a role model for my students.”

For students hoping to improve their own leadership skills, Kurkjian shared some of her wisdom, listing the top four lessons the Center for Leadership has taught her:

1. You have to make mistakes in order to learn, grow and develop.

2. Collaboration is key.

3. Leadership and service go hand in hand.

4. Be passionate. In order to do things well, you have to have heart.

“It’s been great to see Kerry develop her leadership through our programs over the last three years,” Director of the Center for Leadership Steve Mencarini said. “Kerry’s dedication to the AYLA program truly shows her passion for education and the investment in the youth of our community.”

In addition to her roles with AYLA and Elon’s Irish Dance Club, Kurkjian is a Periclean Scholar, a New Student Orientation leader, has taught classes for Elon’s Burst the Bubble program and volunteers on service trips with Catholic Campus Ministry. She has also received the academic honors of Phi Eta Sigma, ODK and Phi Kappa Phi.

If you are a student who is interested in facilitating the AYLA program this summer, please contact the Center for Leadership at 336-278-LEAD.