The Student Leadership Institute has undergone a change since years past. The Director of Student Leadership and Programming, Kristen Whalen, has taken on the challenge of instilling leadership qualities in the freshman of VWC. "My goal for the course is to give students knowledge of leadership so they can take it and use it on campus as well as in the future," she said. Whalen has experience in leadership. She spent two years handling leadership programs at Virginia Tech and is the advisor for the First Year Leadership Council. Whalen is also the Assistant Director of Residence Life. Originally, the institute began as a luncheon that consisted of different stations covering leadership qualities and the importance group interaction. There were no official class meetings other than the initial luncheon and the presentation of group ideas. Whalen interviewed students who attended the institute last year to get their reactions. She found that most of the students she talked to wanted to get credit for their efforts, so the institute has now become a one credit class.

The group of freshmen students will meet one day a week until Spring break. Then they will break into groups to work on one aspect of the campus and think of ways to improve it. At the end of the year, each group will present their ideas to the faculty, staff, and the rest of the class. Freshman Natasha Safaee decided to take the course to help her in the future. "I want to be a resident assistant next year and with that you need leadership," she said. "This way I can really improve on that." Throughout the class, there are guest speakers who talk about different parts of leadership. The first speaker was Dr. William Gibson, a professor of political science, who spoke about the importance of change. Gibson worked as a consulting contractor for the Virginia State Department of Personnel dealing with issues of managing change. "Change comes so fast and as leaders we cannot escape it," he said. "It is a very important issue because change occurs all the time in organizations. Since change can be destructive, it is our jobs as leaders to keep things together."

Kim Schone and Kelly Rust, who were leadership counselors for a summer leadership institute, assist Whalen with the class. "I continually challenge myself to become a better leader," Schone said. "I want to show the students what I have learned so they can challenge themselves." Alacia Earley, a sophomore who attended the institute last year feels it is very useful. "Going into the program, I didn’t know what to expect," she said. "I was surprised to see how seriously they took our ideas and suggestions. It showed me how valuable students are." The class has a positive outlook on what lies ahead. Collectively the students developed a philosophy of leadership to follow: "Leadership is to achieve a common goal, to maximize the potential success by motivating others. A successful leader must be honest, self-confident and opened minded by showing others through motivation." In the future, Whalen hopes to expand the Student Leadership Institute. "This is an experimental course, a learning semester," she said. "I would like to see it become a regular class offered every semester, not only for freshman, but everyone."

When I was little I got excited about my birthday. I anticipated all the new toys wrapped in shiny paper with my name in the "To:" space. There were dolls ranging from Barbie to Cabbage Patch and necessary accessories. There was always something involving "Play-doh" or paint. And then there were the things that weren’t worth the plastic they were made of. The ones that were never quite as cool as I’d always dreamt they’d be, until I found some creative way of putting them to use. When I was 19-years old, I spent a few months thinking about getting my belly button pierced. It wasn’t obsessive thought but every now and then I’d see somebody who had a really cute piece of jewelry, and like a jealous child the idea that I needed one came to mind. Eventually, I’d built the whole thing into a veritable "Candy Land," thinking of how guys would like it, and I could change the jewelry to match whatever I wore. And as a girl who’d always been enthralled with jewelry, a new piercing seemed like the perfect way to display something else that sparkles.

So I did it. I saved up some money, though not in a piggy bank, and I paid a weird looking guy with glasses and multiple facial piercings to stab a hole into the tiny piece of flesh above my belly button. And into this wound, he pushed a 14-gauge metal ring with a tiny black bead adorned with flowers. I looked in the mirror. I loved it. Immediately I began counting the days until I could put a new ring through it. Something pretty and flashy. Then I started seeing dollar signs. A plain stainless steel barbell was going to set me back $35. My heart kind of sunk like a little kids’ when they’ve broken their favorite toy. The beauty of having the thing was already wearing off because of the special care required to get it to heal properly and the four to six months wait that went with it.

But now it was going to be too expensive to make it fun. I looked around for a decent price on a piece that I’d want to show off, checking everywhere I knew of. The mall, the beach. No luck. I spent an evening in Greenwich Village looking for something to replace the dull ring I’d had in place for a year. But even where there were six shops on one half of one New York City block that specialized in piercings and tattoos, where there were cases displaying literally hundreds of pieces to choose from, and where I was shoulder to shoulder with masses of people all having the same fetish for body art, I still would nearly have to starve for a week to be able to afford one. Like a disappointed child I decided this "toy" wasn’t worth the trouble I’d gone through to have it. Spoiled brat that I am, I complained to one of my pierced friends, who informed me that I was simply looking in the wrong places.

On one last quest, I headed down Virginia Beach Boulevard. I found Bill’s Flea Market in the old FX building across from Pembroke Mall. After exploring several walkways lined with little specialty shops I found a novelty store called Finder’s Keepers. The cases were filled with body jewelry of all kinds. I picked out a "double slave" and a "waterfall," barbells with charms and double jewels. I found no navel ring priced over $25. "We try to buy higher quality jewelry and sell it for less," manager Josh Rogers said. "If a customer acts like something costs too much we try to work it out, see what we can do for ‘em." Rogers arranged a buy one, get one half-priced deal for me. I was a kid in a candy store. Between Rogers’ shop and his competitor, Fatty Shack, I spent less than $50 on three barbells and two charms. Many of them were things I’d never seen before. "We try to keep it unique and unusual," Rogers said. "You can’t compete if you have the same stuff everyone else has." Rogers put in my new blue jeweled barbell and turtle charm for me. My little "toy" was new again and every time I go to Bill’s I suddenly feel like a four year-old in anticipation of Christmas. I guess some things never change.