The 12th Annual San Diego MESA Alliance Leadership Summit took place at the Indian Hills Camp in Jamul on the weekend of March 1 – March 3, 2013.

40 MESA/MESA Engineering Program (MEP)/Maximizing Science Potential (MSP) students from San Diego City College, San Diego State University, Southwestern College, Morse High and San Pasqual High Schools participated in various competitions that promoted the use of their leadership skills and various strengths attributes.

A Strengths Quest seminar was presented by Mr. Rafael Alvarez consisting of Reviewing Strengths (resulting from an online Strengths Quest survey via the Gallup Organization), a Scavenger Hunt, Common Strengths lecture, and a homework assignment on visual expression. Students broke into teams to complete a LEGO challenge.

LEGO Challenge winners:

3rd place – Team #1

1. Josue Quinonez, San Diego State University
2. Nathalie Del Rosario, San Diego State University
3. Justino Guerreo, San Diego City College
4. Jocelyn Loredo, Southwestern College

2nd place – Team #2

1. Nicole Ortiz, San Diego State University
2. Arrone Bueno, San Diego State University
3. Claudia Soto, Southwestern College
4. Hilda Mejia, San Diego City College

1st place – Team #8

1. Lou Her, San Diego State University
2. Gabriel Contreras, San Diego City College
3. Alfredo Calderon, Southwestern College
4. Leny Diaz, San Diego City College

Mr. Rafael Alvarez continued the Strengths Quest seminar with lectures on how to connect strengths to future planning and life/career goals, as well as a workshop on creating a cover/interest letter(s). SDSU MEP and SDCC MESA alumna and current industry member from Pratt & Whitney AeroPower, Ms. Maria Charles, led a seminar on Developing Leadership Skills to continue the second day of activities.

Students voluntary rode on the Zip Line activity offered by the camp staff. They also completed a team challenge consisting of building a Prosthetic Hand, which was introduced to the students with a presentation by Ismael Reveles, SDSU MEP alum, Jesus Rodriguez, and Sergio Juarez, the latter two students who are currently conducting research as part of the National Science Foundation funded Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering.

Prosthetic Hand Challenge Winners (based on design and dexterity):

3rd place – Team #8

1. Christina Openshaw, San Pasqual High School
2. Joquel Vasquez, San Diego State University
3. Mauricio Palencia, San Diego City College
4. Elizabeth Rios, San Diego City College

2nd place – Team #5

1. Lou Her, San Diego State University
2. Luis Martinez, San Diego State University
3. Leny Diaz, San Diego City College
4. Hilda Mejia, San Diego City College
5. Jocelyn Loredo, Southwestern College

1st place – Team #3

1. Loren Hicks, Southwestern College
2. John Ventura, Morse High School
3. Sonia Fisher, Southwestern College
4. Christian Murillo, Southwestern College

The last day was reserved for the conclusion of the team challenge which consisted of conducting a PowerPoint presentation on specific topics, as the annual Leadership Summit came to an end.

PowerPoint Presentation Winners:

3rd place – Team #5

1. Joquel Vasquez, San Diego State University
2. Daniel Morales, San Diego City College
3. Elizabeth Rios, San Diego City College
4. Leny Diaz, San Diego City College

2nd place – Team #7

1. Giovanni Perez, Southwestern College
2. Jocelyn Loredo, Southwestern College
3. Juvenal Garnica, San Diego City College
4. Mauricio Palencia, San Diego City College

1st place – Team #9

1. Maurice Harris, Morse High School
2. Alan Potterton, San Diego City College
3. Emeterio Hernandez, San Diego State University
4. Christina Openshaw, San Pasqual High School

A very special thanks goes to Ms. Maria Charles for her attendance and continued support of the MESA program. Another very special thanks goes to Atkins Global Inc. for allowing the Leadership Summit to take place with its grant award to SDSU MEP. Without this grant award, the 2013 Leadership Summit would not have taken place.

Videos can be found at the San Diego MESA Alliance YouTube channel – Leadership Summit playlist.

Photo gallery (courtesy Jose Islas):