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Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy
ICHP Summer Retreat Provides Great Opportunity for Personal and Professional Development

College Connection

by Henry Okoroike, Student Chapter President, Class of 2020 University of Illinois at Chicago

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 the University of Illinois at Chicago hosted an ICHP student leadership retreat. This event was organized by ICHP Executive Vice President Scott Meyers and included student representatives from all of the Colleges of Pharmacy in Illinois. This event provides student chapter leaders with opportunities for leadership training, networking, and sharing ideas for various projects and initiatives.

The day started with breakfast and icebreakers which allowed us to interact and get to know each other. ICHP President Travis Hunerdosse led a discussion about elevating the leader in you. President Hunerdosse spoke about defining your personal brand, how to successfully set goals, effective delegation, and how to tap into the executive boards to unlock the best out of the membership. He encouraged us to think about how we can use this information to better our respective chapters and I look forward to applying what I have learned from his talk.

Scott Meyers then went over what ICHP can offer student members and student societies on a state level. For some of the students new to my executive board, hearing about the educational, networking, and professional development opportunities was eye-opening. For others including myself, it reaffirmed just how beneficial joining ICHP has been and will continue to be for our continued growth as future pharmacists.

From there, we went into an open discussion where chapters could talk about what they do well and what they would like to improve upon in the upcoming school year. Most if not all chapters came away with promising events that they were excited to relay to the rest of their members upon returning to school. As someone who has attended this event for 2 years now, the student leadership retreat is something I would recommend to any executive board member looking to further their professional development as a great way to start the year. I would like to thank Scott Meyers for organizing the event. ■