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By Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR About a year ago, I remember seeing my theneRA pack some clothes in a backpack and preparing to leave campus one Friday after, noon I stopped by to ask him where he was going, and that was the first time I heard about the Sophomore Leadership Retreatr The Lead, ership Academy invests towards developing students to be true leaders and empowering them to inspire the same in others Aimed at developing leadership skills, teamwork, and strong sense of community among the sophe omore class, they organize this retreat which has really become a notetoebeemissed event at every undergraduate student’s time here at IIT Today, having myself enjoyed the experi ence he was so looking forward to that after, noon, I can safely say it has probably been one of my most funefilled weekends at IIT yet A weekend of connecting with classmates, pare ticipating in offtheemill team building and ad, venturous leadership activities (and that too in a beautiful setting), could not have kicked off sophomore year in a more memorable fashionl Pretty Lake, MI is an apt name A pristine lake in the middle of the woods, far away from the hustle and bustle of civilization was the best way to have a final hurrah before a hectic see mesterI The lodging was comfortable, the food was great, the weather was perfect, the walking trails in the woods looked inviting, there were even a couple of pet dogs in one of the neigh7 boring housesl More important than this was the exciting lineup of activities planned for us ., Para ‘ 'v ., Retreat fosters leadership, involvement among sop and in the teams where we were about to make some great new friends For the early birds, a free evening mea.nt just one thing , the lake! Personally, I didn’t even know the difference between a kayak and a canoe till then , and therein began the first of many lessons I was to learn over the course of the weekend Over the next two days, we also tried our hand at sailing, low/high ropes, wall climbing and team based gamesl Team cheers resonated frequently around the campus, and competie tion was fierceI Featuring some incredible team leaders who were upper classmen and Leader, ship Academy scholars, every team was a bale a.nced, welleplaced unit who spent a lot of time together for the two days, really allowing us to connect more personally with our own peers we may have not met last year There was also technewsiit.com Opi ion 2 Campus 3-! AErE 8 The Slipstick 9 Sports 10-11 homores :,,"' ‘jl' r [WT/f ”a ) Photos by Utsav Gandhi time for basketball, soccer, volleyball in the evenings, along with a wonderful campfire and an exciting game of sardines (beneath a rarely, enjoyed open starry sky reflected pristinely in the stillness of the lake , a most breathtaking sight)l In the end, every team was declared a winner in their own right, and it didn’t even sound cliche’dr Topping it up was an extraordie nary workshop wherein those interested were given a rare opportunity to introspect and come up with some important conclusions about themselves Most of the participants spent the return journey catching up on some welledeserved sleep , and enjoyed a contented nap , with some great memories to take away from an un forgettable weekendr Galvin introduces undergraduate research specialists By Emily Hommerding TECHNEWS WRITER Many undergrads view the library as uncharted territory Some even take pride in the fact that they have delayed visit, ing the library for their entire first year (or longer) However, there often comes a time in a student’s academic career where using the library is advantageous, or even required to complete a class assignment or project Using any new system for the first time can be confusing and overwhelming, especially as an assignment deadline approachesr Fortunately, Galvin Library has a new team of Undergraduate Research Specialists (URS) to help navigate the library’s resourcesl URS consists of 11 uni dergraduates from a variety of disciplines They are available when librarians are not available, giving students someone to turn to when using the library during nights and weekends URS can answer questions related to how to use Galvin Lie brary to do research on a given topic URS put an emphasis on educating their peers, in hopes that everyone who has used the service will be a more capable user of the library URS encourages students to not procrastinate visiting the library, as gathering desired information becomes more diflicult when a deadline looms just days or hours ahead URS can be found in the Research Help Office on the 2nd floor of Galvin Library from 6 pm 7 11 pm Monday through Thursday and all day on the weekends The URS team is eager to help their fellow students and will do their best to answer any questions To find out more, visit Undergraduate Research Specialists at IIT on Facebook (http://onlfblme/prwBSU) or contact the URS supervisor Janelle Ruswick at ruswick@iitledur Image courtesy of Illinois Institute ofTechnoIogy