Leadership Excellence

Transcript

It’s time to meet an excellent campus leader named Peyton, who is a junior from Connecticut. Peyton has really evolved during his time at URI. And a lot of it has to do with the leadership experience he got and the mentors he met along the way. URI’s Leadership Institute works with first year students who have leadership and service potential with the hope that these students will become active members of the URI community. With over 100 students participating annually, URI is surely breeding amazing leaders. Let’s hear it from one right now. Onto you, Peyton.

– Thanks, Alex. My trajectory was forever changed my leadership experiences at URI. This all started before my first year even began at a two-day program called the URI Leadership Institute. As an incoming student, I knew no one at URI. During this program, I was able to meet over 100 other first year students who were in the same boat as me, such as one of my best friends and current roommates, Emmett. We participated in critical discussion, team building activities, as well as most importantly, interacted with current URI students that served as peer leaders for the program. These peer mentors showed me a variety of ways to get involved at URI as well as the confidence I needed to pursue these opportunities. Lindsey encouraged me to join Rotaract Club, an organization dedicated to local service. It was there I found my passion for servant leadership and giving back to others. Brian guided me through the process of applying to be an orientation leader. So I can now help other first-year students navigate their first experiences at URI. Lindsey and Brian were both peer mentors who soon became my friends and colleagues. They made me realize my potential and all the untapped energy I never knew I had in high school. This fall, I’ll be able to have a full circle moment as a peer leader for incoming students at this year’s Leadership Institute. Another huge experience that added to my leadership journey was participating in one of URI’s Alternative Spring Break trips or ASB for sure. In March 2020, I traveled to New Orleans to help assist with natural disaster relief, assist with food insecurity, as well as learn more about the background of this historic city. Through ASB, I was able to participate in amazing service activities, such as working in gardens at a charter school sorting beads after Mardi Gras for recycling, as well as passing out meals at the food bank. I also learned about how hurricane Katrina impacted the people of New Orleans until this day, along with how to dry wall a home for a family that lost theirs through the natural disaster. These experiences opened my eyes to the various adversities people continuously face around the world and how I can continue to create positive change. Through these various organizations, I was nurtured to grow, all while continuously being supported by my amazing peers, professors and faculty. I believe one of the greatest things URI has to offer are the people that are a part of its community. My involvement here at URI has given me the opportunity to genuinely feel for the first time in my life that I’m surrounded by people who truly value me. And that will forever be something I am grateful for. Well, that’s my story. Alex, back to you.

– Thanks, Peyton. It’s incredible that all your amazing experiences have happened in your first two years at URI. And we can’t wait to see what’s next.