On June 27th and 28th, recent high school graduates and alumni gathered at Notre Dame of Maryland University for NextGen NextLevel Leadership Conference, a signature summer bridge event of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. During this two-day event, students were inspired by guest speakers, connected with like-minded peers and gained insight on how to be successful in college.
Our Program Support interns were key to the success of this event, providing interactive workshops and real advice to students who will soon be in their shoes. Two MBRT program interns, Malakai Webb and Taryn Waters shared their experience at NextGen NextLevel, below.
Workshops
During the conference, Taryn conducted a workshop titled “Exploring Passions/Trying New Things”. In the twenty-minute session, the importance of participating in internships, joining clubs, and putting yourself out there when you first get to college was discussed. She emphasized the importance of actively seeking opportunities because they won’t come to you on their own.
Malakai’s workshop consisted of teaching the students strong financial money habits. Through wins and losses, he was able to make financial security one of his strengths, and now he can give the knowledge that he wished was shared with him at their age.
Other sessions included The Power of Networking led by Alycia Wilson and Alana Fithian-Wilson and The Value of Mental Health led by Samantha Edson and Sa’Mara Spriggs.
Keynote Speaker
Listening to our keynote speaker, Glenda Lezeau, was impactful for us, as well as the recent graduates. She helped us understand that activating our success is a crucial step toward achieving greatness in our future and that we should not let anything stop us from reaching that greatness. It was an empowering session about finding our voice.
Social Outing
To wrap up the first day of the conference, we all attended a Baltimore Orioles game and enjoyed spending time with fellow alumni. With one of Malakai’s passions being baseball and being a collegiate baseball player, he shared his goals and experiences as a student athlete with the students and staff during the game.
Student Panel
On the second day of our conference, all interns participated as panelists in a College Student Panel. The event attendees could ask the interns questions about college life. Questions ranged from “How do you balance academic responsibilities with extracurricular activities and social life?” to “What are the must-haves to pack for college?” This Q&A session was Taryn’s favorite part of the entire event because it was very laid back and helped everyone understand that they were all in the same boat and there to help one another.
Campus Tours
Before departure at the event, students toured either Notre Dame of Maryland University or Loyola University’s campuses. Our interns also attended these tours, where we were able to provide insight to the students on the similarities and differences from each intern’s respective colleges. Malakai was able to give them beneficial advice about what to do and what not to do. He said he loved being about to share his story to possibly help benefit their future to give them advice that they will carry through college.
Final Reflection
“Next Gen has been an extremely beneficial experience for me since high school. The past 2 years I have been able to experience that same benefit from an employee standpoint. I have participated in my second Next Gen Next Level Conference. Being able to reach out to students brought me joy being able to relate to them and give them insight on how to better their life and college experience. I am so appreciative of the opportunity Next Gen gave me to share my knowledge. Interacting with them, understanding their point of view and their personal experiences opened my eyes just as much as I opened theirs. Being an alumnus of Next Gen has been extremely rewarding and given the opportunity to give back to the next alumni was just as rewarding. I was also able to network with possible career opportunities at the networking conference as I am entering my senior year. I’m one step closer to the real world.” – Malakai Webb
“As an Alumni of the Next Generation program, being involved in the planning of this conference was a surreal experience. I enjoyed being on the campus of Notre Dame of Maryland University and having the chance to network with various entrepreneurs.” – Taryn Waters
