When Senior Krystal Rivera and Junior Karina Mora were selected to represent Cleveland State at the KeyBank Leadership and Creativity Undergraduate Minority Student Symposium on November 14th through 17th 2019, they were excited. Neither knew what to expect but they both had a positive experience that they would recommend to ther CSU students.
"At first it was a little intimidating," said Karina. "When we arrived, we learned that we were rooming with strangers and that we were going to complete a case study."
The students were put into groups with students from other universities across the state. "My roommate was also from Chicago," added Karina. "So whoever did the matching did a great job."
"The sessions or mini workshops were one to two hours long with about five to ten minute breaks," said Krystal. "My favorite was the Leadership in the Workplace session. The professor was interactive and engaging and provided great context about employee and employer leadership."
"I personally enjoyed the sessions on negotiation and personal branding," said Karina. "I purchased a car in August and this would have been useful information to have at that time."
"The personal branding session made me think about what I am passionate about and how to present that to others, Karina added. "It also provided time for me to reflect on what I want to be known for, how to communicate that message, dress and create an elevator pitch."
The teams worked on their case study after the daily sessions on Friday and Saturday and then presented on Sunday, followed by a five minute question and answer session with team members.
Both Karina and Krystal agreed that the best part of the conference was meeting students from different backgrounds and the networking aspect. "We were all sharing our LinkedIn, Snapchat and Instagram profiles with each other," said Karina.
"I feel like even though there was a case competition that everyone won just by being able to meet one another," added Karina.
"It was not just business students that attended," added Krystal. "There were many individuals with different majors from engineering to digital forensics. It was also great to talk to other students and have candid conversations about our experiences at different universities and at the different internships that we have had throughout our college careers."
During the final day, the teams presented their cases. Krystal won the award for Best Question and Answer. "I was surprised," she said. "I feel like after reflecting, the case competition and presenting were a huge benefit
"I would definitely recommend that CSU students apply for this opportunity if offered next year," said Krystal.
"If selected, I would absolutely attend again and would urge other CSU students to apply," added Karina.