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91���� 70 first-year students at 91���� University participated in the fifth annual Take Flight Leadership Retreat, a three-day on-campus outdoor adventure college-prep experience.

“It was actually amazing,” said Donika Rieben, a first-year student majoring in organizational leadership. “I’m glad that I signed up.”

The goal of the Take Flight Leadership Retreat is to inspire first-year students to remain engaged at 91����, improving their retention to the next semester and through their college career and graduation.

The retreat, which took place on Aug. 22–24, helped students to get to know their classmates and helped prepare them for college life. The students developed their critical thinking skills and goal-setting while working together as a team to reach a common purpose.

Collin Campbell, a first-year student majoring in computer science, said he wasn’t thrilled about starting college before participating in the retreat.

“Originally I was like this is just more school, but now I kind of feel like it’s going to be a bigger experience than I ever thought it was going to be,” Campbell said.

The experience was full of leadership opportunities led by Student Involvement and Leadership staff, presenters from across 91���� and current student leaders.

“We spend a couple of days building their leadership skills,” said Gina Keucher, program director of Student Involvement and Leadership. “They form a network of people that are going to be there for them as they start their year.”