Oklahoma State University Athletics
Schwettman Attends Leadership Conference
July 01, 1999 | General
July 1, 1999
Leadership is an important key that many student athletes often overlook, but not Russ Schwettman.
The senior football kicker recently returned from an NCAA Student Leadership Conference that was held May 28-31 in Orlando, Florida.
Schwettman was one of 300 student athletes to attend the conference. The NCAA gave every NCAA university the option to nominate any amount of students. Of almost 17,000 students eligible to attend the conference, Schwettman was the only one to be selected from Oklahoma State.
"We encouraged those students with GPA's over 3.0 that had exhibited exceptional leadership skills on campus to apply," said director of academic services Marilyn Middlebrook, "however we also posted the information on a bulletin board so that any one who was interested had the opportunity to apply."
After he was selected as a nominee by the Office of Academic Services for Student Athletes, Russ had to write an essay and fill out some paperwork to complete his application. The application was then sent to the NCAA where the final selection was made.
"This whole experience was amazing for me," said Schwettman, "I am still in complete awe of what the NCAA did for the students that attended the conference."
During the conference the athletes were allowed some free time, but most of the day was spent in different meetings and workshops. Schwettman said that at the beginning of the conference the athletes took tests that told what areas of leadership they were weak in and what areas they were strong in. Many of the workshops that the students attended were based on these areas. The workshops were all over different areas of leadership, and the students were allowed to choose which workshops they wanted to attend, based on the areas of leadership they were weak in.
Upon arrival at the conference each athlete was also assigned to different small groups that were made up of about thirty people. The small groups met two or three times a day to take part in different leadership activities, and to talk about what they had learned from previous activities.
"Through our small groups I learned how not to take charge but rather to sit back and listen to what other people had to say. I learned that being assertive is not the only way to lead," said Schwettman.
Many of the activities took place in the Walt Disney amusement parks. Small group activities were held in Walt Disney World , The Wide World of Sports, and Wild River Country.
Schwettman also said that while there were many things that he would take home from the conference, the one that had the most impact on him was merely realizing how much difference one student can make on a campus.
