For the past three years, students from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have attended the LeaderShape Institute, a six-day educational experience that equips young adults to become leaders within their communities. And this year was no different, with UAH sending its largest contingent of students yet – including Julia Schneider, Christine Woodard, Ryan Gott, Garrett Wilson, Mariah Tolbert, Brittany Eaton, and Tanvi Singh – to the national LeaderShape Institute held in Atlanta, GA, in late July. "This year we sent members from our Student Government Association, Housing, the Leadership Programs, Blue Crew, Lancers, and T.R.U.E. Chargers," says Kacey Schaum, UAH's Assistant Director for Student Life. "The students chosen already showed leadership on our campus, so we have seen their potential. And my hope is that they have returned well-equipped and confident as leaders, and inspired to make a change on our campus and in their communities." Not only did all of the UAH students have a strong background in leadership, several had attended leadership conferences in the past. But nothing, says junior political science major Brittany Eaton, prepared them for what to expect at the LeaderShape Institute. "It was a life changing experience," she says. "I have gone to a lot of different leadership institutes and I expected it to be like those, but a lot of what we talked about was giving ourselves permission to be ourselves."