Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF) is an organization new to Gustavus, but well-known within the college community. It is a national non-profit organization created in 2003 by a group of students from the University of Minnesota who wanted to make a difference. The official mission is to reveal leadership through service, relationships, and action with aims to energize generations of student leaders.
Sophomores Management and Sociology and Anthropology Major Grace Holbrook, Elementary Education Major Maisy Schendel, and Sydney Bakken all experienced the organization at their high schools and wondered why Gustavus was not one of the many middle schools, high schools, and colleges involved. In an effort to help students build leadership skills, lasting bonds, and fulfillment through service, they came together last spring to create a chapter of STLF at Gustavus.
Students Today, Leaders Forever has been hosting events all year, but their big kick-off event is the signature Spring Break “Pay it Forward” tour where they travel across the country to six different cities for a number of service projects that will culminate in a final service project with other STLF chapters in Washington, D.C.
Schendel explained the premise of the organization and the community service projects.
“It’s student led, so we plan all of our own activities, we find where we stay, we find where we want to serve, we contact the community, we see where they need us, where they think we would make the most impact in their community, then we show up and help,” Schendel said.
The organization encourages students and gives them ample opportunities to contribute to the good of the national communities through service.
“Service projects range anywhere from nursing homes to lake conservation to tying blankets for children to building homes to helping out at humane societies,” Schendel said.
While service is an important aspect to the group, they also emphasize building lasting bonds and personal connections within the student groups through late night reflection activities and spending hours road tripping across the country.
“It’s a great way to connect with people and that’s kind of what we’re hoping to bring to Gustavus, a community in which people can connect to other students of different grades and different majors. It’s definitely an all-inclusive group so we really want a whole different variety of people,” Holbrook said.
Schendel described her experience on her first STLF road trip as a freshman in high school.
“Within the first hour on the trip, I met the entire bus and felt like I already had a connection with them,” Schendel said.
The organization also focuses on building leadership skills and personal development by giving students opportunities to lead at service sites and encouraging them to share their opinions.
“One of the reasons we do all of this is to develop personal leadership skills and figure out your personal identity, through doing hands-on volunteer work and through our late night reflection activities,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook went on her first STLF trip as a senior in high school when she described herself as shy, but now she feels confident in being one of the leaders for this upcoming trip.
“Students Today, Leaders Forever gave me a really good opportunity to stand up and speak my mind,” Holbrook said.
There is a total of 55 different chapters traveling across the country during this Spring Break and hundreds of students volunteering their time for great causes.
Students Today, Leaders Forever represents three of the main values Gustavus prides itself on: service, leadership, and community. It also provides another opportunity to demonstrate these values outside of Gustavus.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to step outside their comfort zone and do something they wouldn’t normally do,” Bakken said.
The Spring Break trip provides a cheap alternative to a regular vacation, as well as offering a chance to be part of a cause, to travel the country and tour new destinations, the opportunity for personal development and bonding, and a way to build up a resume.
“The one thing I really fell in love with was this feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself,” Holbrook said.
For students interested in joining Students Today, Leaders Forever on their “Pay it Forward” tour during Spring Break this year, there is no application, simply register at www.stlf.net/chapters/gustavus by March 12. The cost of the trip is under $500 and it includes everything: the bus rental, hotel, meals, and two t-shirts.
“We’ve gotten a lot of interest and a lot of people to register, but we’re still looking for more students. Once they sign up, they’re on the trip, they’re on the bus, and they can just have a good time and go on the adventure with us,” Holbrook said.
-Rachael Manser