Our final day of our Itasca seminar began early for the seminar management team. We were up early making breakfast for our classmates. Pauline, Russ, Christian and I did our best to keep everyone fed so we could all finish our seminar strong. Pauline is great at making pancakes, Russ is an expert with scrambled eggs, Christian is a talented whisker, and I make a mean pot of coffee! A shout-out to fellow team member Ryan for the fifteen pounds of bacon!
After breakfast the class cleaned-up, packed-up and were off to the Itasca Jacob V. Brower visitor’s center where we would have our final few hours together. At the visitor’s center, the group led by program leader Eriks Dunens, discussed and recapped our visit to the Red Lake Nation. Then, we all debriefed our community strengths exercise that was conducted the prior afternoon in Bemidji. All MARL participants had unique experience and learned about Bemidji and the surrounding area from business owners and local residents.
The last couple hours of our morning were spent led by Eriks Dunens on “Strengthening Trust in Communities.” It was a great presentation and exercise that allowed us to reflect on TRUST and why it is important. In addition, we learned about the three types of trust, when and where trust is built, and six actions to build trust across diversity. For me, it was a great way to reflect on the last couple days and really appreciate how the people we heard from applied trust in their leadership style to accomplish some really great things!
Lastly, we did our usual “wrap-up” as we all gathered in a circle to chat about the last few days. I love hearing everyone’s perspective on what they enjoyed, learned, and plan on applying when they get home or back to work. Sadly, this means our time has come to an end in Itasca. We all said our goodbyes and are looking forward to our next adventure together in Austin!
Submitted by Adam Stratton
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