5th Mark Conference Recap

This weekend the Rutgers Department of Leadership and Experiential Learning hosted their 5th Mark Leadership Conference. The Mark Conference is a 9-hour TED-style event consisting of speakers and activities. The purpose of the conference is to “inspire action among students and encourage them to think critically about the ‘mark’ they will leave on the world around them.” I was lucky enough to purchase tickets prior to the event selling out. To understand the scope of attendees and those involved, there were over 500 people in attendance from all over the tristate area and over 50 members assisting. With such a huge undertaking, I was very impressed by the amount of effort and dedication that was more than evident in its end result of a seamless execution.

The conference offered 20 speakers ranging from famous Olympians to models, entrepreneurs, social activists and our very own Rutgers students. The day was broken into 3 speaker portions with breaks in-between for lunch, other speaker events, energizing activities and a meet and greet. With every event and speaker, the audience was further moved and electrified. With topics ranging from human sex trafficking in the US to snowboarding with a prosthetic leg and powerful spoken word it was difficult to keep a dry eye. Every story was vastly different and yet the speakers did an amazing job in connecting their experiences and perspectives with the audience and igniting a sense of responsibility and inspiration. The energizer activities that were offered were a great way for attendees to take a break and explore things they probably hadn’t before. Such activities were a balloon bridge, puppy corner, tiny book crafting, quiet clubbing, origami and meet and greets. All in all, I would deem the Mark Conference a huge success and would definitely recommend that anyone who can and wishes to be involved or attend look into it. 

Photo Source: The Tab

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