Leadership Camp gives students hands-on training

Leadership Camp gives students hands-on training

RMIT Vietnam held its first-ever Leadership Camp from 29-30 July at its Saigon South campus.

According to Nguyen Hong Ngoc, who goes by Ruby and is a Student Leadership & Development Coordinator (Student Life) at RMIT Vietnam, the camp was designed to allow student leaders to actively learn new skills and ideas through practical games.

“We want them to learn by doing,” she says. “They learned various skills like leadership, communication, team-building and things like that – skills that they can use right after the camp.”

Ms Ngoc added that the camp allowed young leaders to build a network with other students across the University. Building community among students is a priority at RMIT Vietnam, and emphasised in its Where We Belong campaign.

The Leadership Camp included around 60 students, and Ruby shares that she hopes to turn the camp into an annual event. “In the future we plan to do a three-day, two-night off-campus camp,” she says.

Students have fun in one of the many leadership building activities during the camp. Students have fun in one of the many leadership building activities during the camp.

The ultimate goal is for student leaders to take these skills beyond the university. “We hope they’ll be better leaders and use the skills and network that they learned at the camp to go out and make changes in the campus, or the community in general,” Ruby says.

Judging by the feedback from students who participated in the camp, Ruby and her team were successful.

“I was able to work with great minds and talented people of RMIT. This is something, to me, [that is] highly motivational and valuable,” shares Bui Khac Phuong Uyen, one of the camp’s team leaders. “Thus, I believe that the young generation, at least at our RMIT, will grow to be the good leaders of our community.”

Young leaders learned practical skills at the University’s first Leadership Camp. Young leaders learned practical skills at the University’s first Leadership Camp.

Pham Viet My, another team leader, added: “Normally attendees can only experience training in a group… however this camp allows us to be involved in multiple activities, reflecting then debriefing. It seems to be much more effective.”

In the end, Ruby hopes the camp helped create a strong bond among the students. “Building a sense of community with these young leaders is very important,” she says. “I hope they can continue to work together and build their skills in the years to come.”

Story: Michael Tatarski

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