College students, recent graduates and professionals from across the country met at the National Student Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C., and Sterling College sent four students to participate in the event. Josh Hood, Fayola Oyatayo, Chelsea Stephenson and Tennissa Williams were encouraged by speakers in national politics, business and social services to become better leaders through refining themselves. The meetings and small group sessions that worked on building character and understanding leadership were part of the conference that took place Oct. 31-Nov. 2 and was made possible through a donation from alumni Chuck ’58 and Joyce (Skeen) ’57 Olsen, whose son, Brad Olsen, was involved in the planning of the event.

The group heard from founder and editor-in-chief of Darling Magazine Sarah Dubbeldam, former NFL player Brad Edwards, president of Walden Media Mike Flaherty, Congressman Randy Hultgren, Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, and psychiatrist and author Curt Thompson. Students also spent time in small groups where they discussed topics from the speakers and shared their testimonies.

“I learned that without my faith, I will have no place in leadership. People want to be led by example and they want to be led by someone who loves them wholly and sacrificially…. We also talked about the importance of asking questions that matter. So often we can get caught up in just living day-to-day life with the people around us and not really taking the time to get to know them deeply,” said Williams.

Chuck and Joyce Olsen live in Nebraska after decades of ministry in churches and lay leadership development. Chuck Olsen has written three books, “Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders,” “Discerning God’s Will Together,” and “The Wisdom of the Seasons.”

Sterling College is a Christ-centered, four-year college located in Sterling, Kansas, with a mission to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith. For more information, visit www.sterling.edu.