Every fall semester on the Rutgers University–New Brunswick campus, it’s likely that you’ll spot groups of freshmen sprinting through the campuses, doing their best to navigate their way through the confusion of nightly bus schedules. You may even see them stop in front of the Busch Campus Center or somewhere in the middle of Douglass in order to perform one of the many team-building activities that they set out to complete.
Run by the LEx Leader Corps, the Leadership Quest is an event that highlights everything the LEx Leader Corps aims for. This event is exclusively open to first-year and transfer students and can be joined on a sign-up basis. The Quest’s goals are to provide aspiring student leaders with various team-building activities, helping to discover each individual’s leadership style. Each team competes to finish the Quest fastest, and then makes its way back to the Rutgers Zone for an ice cream social. At the social, teams receive free Leadership Quest t-shirts and make lasting friendships. It also allows for first-year and transfer students to learn more about the Rutgers campus and the LEx Leader Corps, an organization on campus that, true to its name, provides experiential leadership opportunities for all students.
JH: Did you meet through this event, or did you all know each other before?
AS: No, we did Camp UKnight over the summer, which is also through the same thing, the LEx Leader Corps. And so we all decided we would do this together.
JH: So what kind of activities did you all do?
KO: The first thing we did was balancing a balloon – we had to hit it forty times as a team. Then, we ran over and did something with the balls –
JT: Yeah, we had to roll the balls down two half-pipes – or chutes?
AS: It was pretty challenging, but we eventually got it.
JT: There was one where one of us was blindfolded, and another one where we had to flip a tarp over without touching the ground.
KL: The puzzle was all about figuring out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and other stuff like that.
JT: Yeah, all of it was really about teamwork.
JH: Okay, so what was your favorite thing about this?
JT: Well, if we won, that would definitely be the best part. (laughs)
KO: It was definitely fun being ambitious together, working as a team.
JT: I also loved going into it not knowing what we were getting ourselves into; that was fun. (laughs) We were sprinting across campuses; I was asking people where things were.
KL: That was definitely the most exercise I’ve gotten so far this year. (laughs)
JH: Do you think you’re going to continue doing things with this organization?
ALL: Yes, for sure.
The LEx Leader Corps not only hosts Leadership Quest for first years, but it also runs RU Alternative Breaks, the Mark Conference, Leadership Week, and many more events throughout the year.
Check out leadership.rutgers.edu for more information about this organization and everything it has to offer.
Financial support from alumni, parents, and friends helps us create the innovative learning opportunities that challenge students to be their best at Rutgers and beyond.
About the Division of Student Affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick
The Division of Student Affairs is committed to facilitating interactions that promote students' success and their personal and professional development. Learn more about our mission.
