RLI - Foundation Session

So after we all came back to Ann Arbor after our wonderful M-Treks all over the world, the first mandatory event of the MBA Program took place:
The Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI) Foundation Session (I don't think it would have been humanly possible to come up with a longer name ;-))

So for six days we discussed about leadership topics like responsibility, integrity, diversity, creativity, and innovation. We practiced improvisation skills with a comedy group from Chicago (Second City). Moreover we listened to the wisdom of Ricardo Salinas, an entrepreneur from Mexico, and of our faculties.
But most fun were team building events like cooking a meal for 100 people.
At least most of these events were fun. Since the cooking took place outside in the pouring rain, I ended up being sick for the better part of the coming week.

But by far most impressive for the speech of Eleanor Josaitis!
The last day of the RLI Foundation Session was dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. So we all went to Detroit and got involved in different projects.
One of these projects was overseen by Eleanor, who is one of the founders of "Focus: HOPE" a civil and human rights organization in Detroit.
At the closure of the event she gave a wonderful speech about her work, overcoming obstacles and giving back to others. Many of us (certainly me) had to fight back their tears.

So a great start to my academic life at Ross and a week which certainly gave me a lot to think about!