STC summer camp presents young students with leadership skills

MCALLEN, Texas - Guillermo Gonzalez from Weslaco, turned to South Texas College this summer to help strengthen his communication skills at the Operations Management Youth Leadership Camp held recently at the college’s Technology campus.

The Operations Management Youth Leadership Camp featured three days of free workshops for a total of six different sessions designed to provide high school students ages 14-18 with the understanding of leadership and communication skills needed for the workforce. Sessions included topics like “Personality, Generations and Culture Differences in the Workplace,” “Conflict in Organizations - Managing Difficult Employees,” “Emotional Intelligence and the Use of Soft Skills in the Workplace” and “Organizational Ethics.”

“Mindset is a really big part of success, so when I saw a business camp was offered, I figured I’d take these courses to help me later on in the future because I want to study business in college,” the 16-year-old said. “You have to be able to learn how to get people to understand your ideas and learn how to follow through, because, in the workforce, when you help push others to succeed that can help you succeed, too.”

Ruben Flores, Ph.D., Operations Management department chair, said the instructors wanted to make the effort to reach younger students through the summer workshops because of the importance of the topics.

“A lot of these students have not been exposed to this subject material because their high school content doesn’t focus on these topics,” Flores said. “When students finish college and end up going to work, they'll be confronted by a lot of these conflict situations, and some may feel lost. We want them to succeed and be able to refer back to these concepts and ideas once they’re in the workforce.”

For Yhoalibeth Alvarez, 17, from Mission, the leadership camp was an invaluable experience.

“I learned a lot about psychological theories and more about myself and how I communicate,” Alvarez said. “I can now use these new communication skills in personal interactions and my future professional life. For example, we learned about emotional intelligence and how I can be conscious of it. This camp has given me experience that you usually don't get in high school, so I’m grateful that STC is giving students a chance to learn about this.”

On the first day of the camp, students like Gonzalez and Alvarez were able to learn about personality and temperament factors  and how they can impact interactions in the workforce environment, key characteristics among generations and how they can create mutual learning as well as potential conflict and compared regional cultural differences. 

Gonzalez said he hopes to find a career in business and the organizational relations and management science skills he learned at the workshop will offer him a head start.

“Some people won’t find these skills until later on in their lives, and I think it’s important for young kids to understand these subjects, especially if you have problems in school,” Gonzalez said. “If they teach these skills about how to connect to people, they can help in the classroom, socially and just in your life, entirely.”

Upon completion of each session, students received a certificate to mark their success in the program.

STC’s Operations Management Youth Leadership Camp is only one of several summer youth camps being offered this summer throughout the Pecan, Mid-Valley, Starr County and Technology campuses, including Pecan Plaza. Others include drone piloting, biotechnology, drumline, Folklórico dance, welding and more.

STC provides the opportunity for children to explore and expand their interests and skills through engaging, hands-on activities. The diverse camp offerings are designed to keep minds sharp while having fun.

For a complete schedule of all STC youth summer camps and their costs, visit www.southtexascollege.edu/youth-camps or call 956-872-3585 for more information.