SMHS Senior Attends 5-Week Leadership Institute at Princeton University
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LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to diversifying the national leadership pipeline by helping high-achieving students from under-resourced backgrounds gain admission to selective colleges.
This summer, senior Brandon Rascon Rodriguez, traveled to Princeton University to participate in LEDA's 5-week, intensive "Aspects of Leadership Summer Institute" program.
Hosted by Princeton's Forbes College, the Institute includes writing courses, a college guidance program, as well as SAT/ACT guidance. The Institute also invites college reps from institutions such as Yale and Haverford to hold seminar discussions with students.
"LEDA's goal is really to get you to know your worth and develop that knowledge of yourself and of the processes that marginalized people can use to stand out in situations where, even though we might have the same qualifications as another person, that person may have had more opportunities. 'Aspects of Leadership' tries to make you aware as a person who has been marginalized how to make things better not only for yourself but for people in future generations," said Brandon.
For Brandon, one of the biggest takeaways from this experience was the strength of the community formed between student participants and program faculty.
"The instructors were amazing. I’ve met so many amazing people - they just become your family. I was really able to open myself up to other people in a way I wasn’t able to do before. You are able to open up to people who are exactly like you. I’m not talking to a stranger who won’t understand my struggles, I’m talking to people who have gone through my same struggles and who want to go to the same place I’m going," said Brandon.
Brandon's experience at Princeton is just the beginning of his involvement with LEDA. Even after students leave the Institute, counselors and instructors stay in touch in order to support students with processes such as writing college applications. Brandon also keeps in contact with friends he met at the Institute, whom he knows he will see again at other programs or even at college.
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