Listen. Learn. Lead.
SMSU President Dr. Connie Gores welcoming MARL Class IX
Session II kicked off in Marshall, MN at the Southwest Minnesota State University campus. With weather moving in again- we have officially been named “The Snowstorm Class”! However, Day One was not too bad being inside where it was warm. We were welcomed by SMSU President Dr. Connie Gores and had a lesson in the history of the school and the diversity of the students enrolled. After lunch, we broke into groups based on our state districts and did some pre-planning for making appointments with our MN Senators and MN Representatives. Next month at Session III in St. Paul we will be meeting with our elected officials and getting a taste for that process. We also did some preliminary work on determining which organizations we want to visit with when we venture to Washington DC in February.
We spent the next three hours learning about ourselves with Catie Rasmussen, an Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota. Prior to this seminar in Marshall, Class IX had each taken an Emotional Intelligence test. Catie covered in great detail how this test can be interpreted and how it can be used by us going forward in our lives, both personal and professional. We were then given time to look over our results and reflect on them, first on our own and then within our Coaching Groups. This was especially insightful as we were able to talk with each other on what our scores were and offer insights into why we think we are that way. Our group members offered us advice on ways we might be able to address some of the areas that may have concerned us and we could encourage each other.
Our next step was to reflect on our homework from last seminar- reading The Art Of Focused Conversation. It was great practice in being able to actually frame a conversation and ask the right kind of questions to see results.
Our day ended at the Brau Brothers Taproom where we were finally able to share our Storyboards with one another. This was supposed to be done in Willmar but due to the weather situation last month we had to forgo the storyboards until this seminar. This was an especially fun part of Session II, learning about each other and seeing pictures of our families and hobbies. It opened the door for some great conversation and helped us to find even more common ground with each other. 
submitted by Ashley Schmeling
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