Minus the rain, registration for MBV 2017 was a complete success! Students were immediately greeted in the morning by the BestPrep and student staff. Students registered for the camp, settled in to their dorm rooms, and then were invited to have lunch with their parents. The day truly began when all the MBV students went to the Atwood ballroom to hear Donzell Dixson give an inspirational speech about “writing your own story.” Students were engaged with Donzell as he shared his story and passions. He talked about how he changed from a troubled kid to a motivated and disciplined man. Parents were able to stay and watch this amazing speech, but soon had to leave and let their kids become leaders.
After the speech, Amanda Labo, the director of MBV, guided the students to break out into their companies with their CEOs and Resident Business Leaders (RBL). The CEOs, RBLs and students all went to their company rooms and did icebreakers to get to know each other. Our next speakers were Thelmy Maldonado and Lindsey Pluger. They talked about the nonprofit that they work for, Students Today Leaders Forever, and how the students could get involved. They kept the students active by getting them out of their seats and in a circle to network and learn more about each other.
The day ended with everybody’s favorite activity: Junk night. Junk night is when students randomly pick a bunch of “junk” like a rag or a ball and come up with a product or service, using all of the junk and creating an infomercial to present to the whole camp! The RBLs judge each group’s infomercial, giving them a score on how well they think the campers did. In the end, company “F” won, and received a prize bag. Their idea was the “back-in-timinator.” The students were then dismissed for the day to network, play, and hang out with all their new friends. First day of MBV 2017 was a success!
