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- BLI announces a new Access Opportunity
- Barger Leadership Institute is moving!
- BLI Announces New Partnership with The London Idea
- Former Jet Blue CEO donates $10 million to Barger Leadership Institute
- BLI Hires a New Assistant Director
- BLI to Co-Host ‘Extreme by Design’ Film Screening, Discussion
- BLI awards Small Grant for Halfway Hijabi event
- BLI Launches New Capstone Experience
- BLI Launches New Fellows Program Structure
- Keep Calm and Lead On
- BLI Fellow Wins Wolverine Tank Pitch Contest
- BLI Congratulates Mya Haynes
- BLI Alumni Receive 2015-2016 Fulbright Honor
- The 2018 London Ideas Project is Announced
- Congrats to BLI partner Sandra Levitsky for being awarded the Golden Apple!
- Congrats to BLI Fellow and Peer Facilitator Elisabeth Benham
- Tales of Leadership: The Advanced Fellows Journey
- Welcome to the 2018 Capstone Cohort!
- BLI welcomes new director!
- BLI Across the Pond
- BLI Hosts Voting Guru Nancy Thomas
- Ram Mahalingam's award winning film to be screened at two film festivals.
- The Capstone Experience with the Migrant Education Initiative
- The Mindful Leader - Becoming an Engaged Leader
- A Weekend of Mindful Leadership
- Introducing the 2019 Capstone Teams
- The Peer Facilitator Experience
- Dinners with...
- BLI Students Start Small and Dream Big in Detroit
- From Freshman to Senior Year -- Four Years of Leadership Learning
- BLI Speaker Series: Food For Thought
- BLI Director, Ram Mahalingam featured in the Record
- Capstone Bootcamp 2019
- In a Distracted World, Solitude is Practice for Tomorrow’s Leaders
- A Conversation on Mindfulness, Bias and Racial Justice — a podcast with Ram Mahalingam
- The Mindful Leaders Retreat — Laying a Foundation
- Being a good leader is knowing when to practice gratitude
- Channeling Mindfulness
- Compassionate Leadership: Creating a Just, Inclusive and Mindful Society with Mirabai Bush
- Dinners With...
- Announcing Capstone 2020 Teams!
- Meet our 2020 Leadership Lab Teams!
- Leading Mindfully
- A Senior's Reflection on Peer Facilitating
- Expect Challenges
- Reflecting Back and Looking Forward
- From Leadership Lab, to Peer Facilitator, to Program Assistant
- Project Healthy Schools Global
- Learning to be an Effective Leader
- Leading Life with Dignity: A Challenge of Our Time
- Pause, Reflect, and Create
- What's Happening in the Lab?
- Capstone 3D Virtual Gallery
- Announcing the Break Away Podcast!
- BLI Advanced Fellow featured in M-LEAD's Leadership Lens Series!
- Two BLI Advanced Fellows Receive the Renowned MLK Spirit Award
- Stand Against Asian Violence
- BLI Hosts Alumni Panel
- Announcing the BLI's 2021 Capstone Cohort
- BLI Offers COVID-19 Hardship Grants
- ALA 175: Foundations in Leadership
- The Peer Facilitator Leadership Experience
- What's Happening in the Lab
- Capstone Boot Camp 2021
- Mindful Leader Reflection
- Learning to Lead with Compassion: A Mindful Leadership Retreat
- Okanagan Charter
- Foundations in Leadership, a Peer Facilitator Perspective
- Heart-Centered Leadership with Rebecca Irby
- Announcing the 2022 Leadership Certificate Cohort!
- Welcome the 2021-22 Mindful Leader Fellowship cohort!
- BLI Peace Leadership Retreat in Detroit
- BLI director awarded the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award
- Seithur Sanitation Initiative receives the MLK Spirit Award
- The Michigan Difference Student Leadership Awards
- Feedback is Love
- Deepening the Foundations for Equity and Renewal
- Creating Leaders – Being a Peer Facilitator at the BLI
- M-LEAD Leadership Lens Feature: Kaitlyn Colyer
- M-LEAD Leadership Lens Feature: Mya Harris
- What's Happening in the Lab
- The Leadership Certificate at the University of Michigan: Cohort 1
- Color of Care Reflection
- Mindful Leader Retreat Recap
- Social Transformation, a Passionate Community of Scholars
- The Michigan Difference Student Leadership Awards
- Break Away Podcast
- BLI Weekend in Detroit
- Leadership Lens with Olivia O'Connell
- Leadership Lens with Becky Woolf
- Leadership Philosophy Reflection
- Senior Reflection, Renuka Murthi
- Dignity and Well-being in the Workplace: A French Perspective
- BLI – Year One
- Teaching Leadership, a Senior Reflection
- Archived News
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When I first joined the Barger Leadership Institute, I had no idea how great of a role it would end up playing in my college experience. I took the Leadership Lab in the first semester of my Sophomore year and was immediately attracted to the way the class was run and the types of people who were both in and facilitating the class. From the get go, I could tell that the BLI was an inclusive, innovative, and friendly space which, unfortunately, is sometimes hard to come across on campus.
My enjoyable experience in the Leadership Lab inspired me to become a Peer Facilitator for the class, which I did for three semesters. Through this experience, I grew immensely as a leader. I had a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, was more confident in my public speaking skills, and felt like I really knew how to help guide and facilitate group discussions and community-oriented projects. It was also just really great to see all the cool work and ideas that students were creating to address community issues that they were passionate about. Learning about the process of how to connect them with stakeholders and guide them through the steps to implementing a successful project was not only helpful for them, but also taught me a great deal about campus resources and project management. Plus, I got to work with some awesome groups of other Peer Facilitators each semester — it was so much fun getting to see how each individual puts their own spin on leading the class. Overall, being a Peer Facilitator was a great learning experience, and I am so glad that I was able to take part in it.
Throughout my three semesters as a PF, I learned that there was so much more to the BLI than just the Leadership Lab, which is why I decided to become a Program Assistant. As a part of the Grants and Funding team, I learned a great deal about the BLI community because I had the opportunity to read over all of the small and project grants that students were submitting, which was a really interesting way to learn about different communities and issues that I may not have learned about otherwise. I continued working on my public speaking by presenting to different spaces on campus about our funding opportunities. The part of being a PA that stands out the most to me though was that I was able to collaborate with and just get to know the other wonderful PA’s. Outside of our weekly meetings, many of my favorite memories from my time with the BLI has been sitting on the 8th floor of Weiser with my coworkers as we chat about our work and our lives. Together we’ve created award-winning Halloween decorations, put on a successful DeStressFest, and have come up with new ways to collect, combine, and create and come together as a team.
As a graduating senior, I will so miss the warm, energetic, and innovative community that I’ve gained from the BLI. I hope that in the future I will not only maintain the relationships that I’ve gained from the BLI, but also take with me the habits and lessons I have learned over the past three years about communication, teamwork, and leadership.