“Understand your purpose, understand your passion and make sure every decision that you make is counted in the end,” a Pennsylvania school official told AACC student leaders last week.

York, Pennsylvania, Assistant Superintendent LeTricia Gloster, who has worked in education for more than 20 years, spoke on topics ranging from how to inspire others to how to be an effective leader who gets results.

“It is really important that we create this space of ensuring … that we have a culture of safety amongst each other, that we create it and dedicate ourselves to being vulnerable, really leaning into our experiences with speaking truth to power, having clarity and purpose in our stories, ensuring that there’s accountability,” Gloster said.

Gloster’s presentation kicked off the two-day Riverhawks Rise leadership conference, which consisted of skill-building workshops and informative seminars to train students to become the leaders of tomorrow. 

Student Government Association officers, student club members, campus ambassadors, and other leaders attended the program. 

SGA President Abigail Billovits-Hayes said the best part of Gloster’s presentation was the lesson that all leaders should focus on why they do what they do.

“It’s like, I know why I do things but I always need to keep thinking about it,” Billovits-Hayes, a third-year marketing and psychology student, said. “Just keeping that in mind whenever I do anything is really important.”

Student ambassador Vanessa Cardozo agreed.

“When she said, ‘Ground yourself in your why,’ that is the one that really stuck with you the most,” Cardozo, a second-year nursing student said.