This year I was the event photographer for The 9th Annual Service-Learning & Civic Engagement Conference, or SLCE for short hosted right here at USG on April 2nd, 2016.

The purpose of this conference was to:

• collaborate with others who are involved with service-learning and civic engagement.
• learn how service-learning can be integrated into various organizations.
• inspire ideas on how to create an environment to encourage social change.

The conference kicked off at 9am with registration and breakfast as well as a poster display. Guests chatted over coffee and tea about their organizations, universities, and programs. Everyone shared a common goal – making the world a better place.

A great start to a wonderful say, registration and breakfast. SLCE Conference 2016. Photo Credit: Layla K. Mahgoub

Next on the agenda was the official welcome and keynote speaker Ludley Howard, founder of the Howard Group, LLC.  Mr. Howard gave an incredible speech on why people are driven to do what they do, he called it your why power.

Ludley Howard on finding your why power. Photo Credit: Layla K. Mahgoub

Everyone’s got it. Your why power is what gets you up in the morning, it’s what pushes you to greatness, it’s what drives you to make a difference. Mr Howard’s speech got everyone thinking in the room for a minute, including myself.

My understanding of why power is this – changing your attitude from “I’m obligated to do this” to “WHY am I doing this” or from “How in the world am I going to do this” to “WHY is this important to me?” Get it?

Your why power is the basis of everything you do, it’s your values, your beliefs, it’s what pushes you towards greatness, and that was the major theme of the SLCE conference.

The conference had a long list of educational workshops hosted by various speakers from various organizations. Guests could decide which workshop they would like to attend.

Some of our very own hospitality and management students hosted a workshop on Campus Kitchen, USG’s community service organization run by the UMES hospitality program.

Egard Hernandez & Anya Shkarupa of Campus Kitchens, feeding the community. Photo Credit: Layla Mahgoub

The Campus Kitchens Project purchases and prepared food for the Dwelling Place , a program that houses impoverished people.

The SLCE conference was a melting pot of change makers, people who want to make a difference in their community, across the nation, and across the world. It was an amazing opportunity for  people to collaborate, because as the SLCE slogan goes, we are “stronger together”.