As time marches on our society continually evolves and changes with every passing moment; with change comes new obstacles, with new obstacles comes the need to create solutions, and finally, with the need for solutions comes the rise of new leaders and innovators to show the world that nothing stands in the way of human ingenuity. As of this writing, on November 30^th, 2016, St. Joseph’s College- just a mere twenty-minute drive from our school- hosted the “Emerging Leaders” conference to bring young minds together to give all of us who attended a platform to showcase our skills on a larger scale. Overall, the conference showed everyone who was involved that not only is the future going to be in good hands- but that it will also hold endless advancements to make it even more worthwhile.

The event started out rather quickly and chaotically giving you the distinct feeling that you were in an actual place of business which was both a blessing and a curse. For example, my colleague and I had to give a presentation about marketing the Ducks baseball team to help boost sales; we barely had time to comprehend the situation at first. The second we walked into the main Nexus building, we sat down and we were being shuffled around before subsequently being told we would be presenting in just ten minutes. Moreover, the whole process of getting to the school and to the presentation area was in a short fifteen minutes and next thing we knew we were being told to start the presentation and then leaving to go back and relax. After taking it all in I did come to realize that this was actually part of the whole process as in the real world sometimes you can plan out something a million times yet in reality most of the time you have to adjust on the fly.

Not only did the event help introduce all of the competitors to the reality of the business world; but, it helped us put to test our public-speaking abilities and presentation skills for the first time outside of a classroom. The experience would help all of us see the areas in which we truly excel and what we need to improve on in order to strengthen a skill that carries across every field of study and many facets of our lives as well. To put it simply, the conference was a good measuring stick in terms of our abilities in the outside world and how we would either thrive or fall short in certain scenarios.

In summation, when it was all said and done and awards were handed out and recognition was given to all of us for our willingness to continually strive for greatness, we were able to learn about the world and about ourselves. For some, they now have the knowledge to present themselves in the business world and for others, like myself, learning how to become better in a skill that can help set you apart from the group. Finally, for anyone reading this, whether you like to speak in public or not, I highly recommend this event or others similar to it and encourage you to try it because, at the end of the day, just trying to better yourself puts you above your peers from the outset.