What is Capstone?
This is a guest article by Unbound Student Benjamin Osborne.
What do leadership, mentorship, story telling, MLA papers, roller skating, hiking, snow, mountains, Patagonia fair-trade fleece sweaters (mouthful), and jet fuel-like black coffee have in common? You were thinking of Capstone, right? No? Well perhaps you are less than familiar with this incredible opportunity for all aspiring leaders in Unbound. So let me walk you through my experience at Capstone 2019. But first, a word on the Leadership courses.
If you’ve been in Unbound for any great period of time, you’ve probably heard of the Signature Leadership Courses taught by Dr. Jeff Myers. These three courses teach you all you need to know to be an effective leader wherever you are in life. You learn how to mentor and be mentored and how to work effectively within a team towards a common goal. Those who complete all three courses earn the coveted Signature Leadership Certificate!
As part of the third course, you are required to attend Capstone in Estes Park, Colorado. Now I ask you, where else besides Unbound are you required to have a blast in Colorado for a good grade? Props to the best college experience in the world. Anywaaaay….I was super pumped to have this opportunity and that’s what had me waking up at 3 am and on my way to the airport last week!
If you’re like me, you buy the cheapest plane ticket you can get. This had me arriving in CO about 5 hours before everybody else. But after much school and coffee, my fellow Unbounders started pouring in! It was so much fun getting to connect with old friends, meet new people, and drive the scenic route up to Estes Park!
While at Capstone, we were broken up into small groups (my small group was AWESOME) and were assigned roommates (these guys were pretty cool, too). We got to listen to lectures by Dr. Myers, Col. Bell, Jonathan Brush, and Megan Weber. Here’s a tip for all future Capstone attendees: be prepared to take thorough notes and have great questions in mind because all the speakers are really personable and awesome at fielding questions! You also get to have breakout sessions with your groups. Sometimes these involve deep conversations about your life story or you just building a tower out of dried spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. Whatever the mood is.
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But some of the best conversations that happen at Capstone aren’t in the session room. They’re in the dorm rooms, around the fireplace, or the dinner table. Conversations about spiritual matters, relationships, personal trials, politics, theology, and Myers-Briggs Personalities (it’s an obsession). These were some of my favorite memories of Capstone!
All in all, it was an amazing experience! If you don’t have the Leadership courses on your degree manager, make sure to talk to your coach about them! They are extremely valuable to people in any area of life. Plus, what about hiking a mountain in Colorado with the coolest people in the world doesn’t interest you?
Benjamin is a proud ENTP (which means don’t get him started…on any subject), a political junkie, lover of the outdoors, 80’s music fan, drummer, over-thinker, and world traveler. He resides in the sprawling suburban oasis that is Fort Worth TX, and is a student of Economics from Liberty University.
Hannah Linde is the former Student Community Coordinator & Marketing Manager for Unbound Student Life. She loves people, hiking, and learning, but most importantly loves raising her two little boys — Clarke and Ollie. She is a 2016 Unbound Alumna with a BSBA in Project Management from Liberty University and passionate about the Unbound community.