Â鶹´«Ã½

Summer Engagement and Leadership (SEAL) Retreat

This activity involves taking new TLC students and engaging continuing TLC participants to a campsite where the TLC staff introduces them to teambuilding exercises and college survival type workshops. These exercises push participants beyond their comfort zones in order to make the experience more engaging. The retreat also attempts to foster the belief that academic insecurity is the norm with all new students in order to reduce the level of fear most first-generation students feel when they enter college. The goal is to develop an atmosphere that makes the participants feel valued by their peers and breaks the initial barrier of social belonging. The retreat fosters a sense of trust and generates bonds that motivate them to persist and excel. These activities will be used to familiarize the new participants with both spirit of Â鶹´«Ã½ and the family-type atmosphere of the TRiO Learning Community program. The retreat addresses the social and personal needs of the participants through engagement, team building and inter-personal skill development.