Beyond Ramen by Food Group – Barger Leadership Institute Student Voices

Beyond Ramen by Food Group

By Lidia Cappelletti

A summary of your project, including how well it followed your original goals which were
established in the grant proposal
Hey everyone! Food Group here! We want to thank our participants for attending, and share our
experience with executing an event through the BLI Leadership Seminar course! Our event,
“Beyond Ramen,” provided free healthy MDining catering (dietary restrictions included) to
attendees who wanted to learn more about proper nutrition through our interactive Q&A with a
knowledgeable university nutritionist. We utilized survey sheets placed at every table setting to
gauge the success of the Q&A, as we intended to have the attendees gain and apply nutrition
knowledge to their everyday lives! When surveyed on the likelihood that they would use the
nutrition info learned, attendees gave us an average score of around 4.4/5 with a median of 5 (the
highest score)! Our next central goal was to secure around 25 participants, with over 25 people
registering via our Google registration form! Unfortunately, not everyone attended, though we
were able to give away a bunch of free leftovers to attendees so the food would not go to waste!

Any challenges you encountered and how you dealt with them
Our team worked together extremely well! Everyone showed up, everyone did their work, and
everyone participated! Outside our team environment, we faced challenges such as booking the
room and catering. To devise our solutions, we met a few times before class to run everything
through. We discussed the dietary needs of our attendees that would dictate the food offered via
catering and the availability of Michigan League rooms where our event could be held. These
issues were resolved through communication of the registration form results, and reviewing the
dates our schedules coincided so we could decide on a location at the Michigan League.
Communication and compromise are key!

How you/your team developed leadership skills (using the BLI Habits as context)
Clear organization and communication skills were used to materialize our event
efficiently, which also happens to align with the BLI habit of “Building a Team.” We
were initially confused about the direction of our project, so we constructed and
communicated ideas that varied from “good” to “bad” to help devise a collective vision.
Once our collective vision was set, we assumed team roles that eventually became more
equal in workload as we all developed a similar vision. Our team’s foundation was solid!

We implemented the BLI habit of “Value Difference” to discern each team member’s
strengths and areas of improvement, which also helped improve team efficiency and
overall group dynamics. The project work was primarily assigned by each team member’s

strengths, from Adam’s MDining connections to Lidia’s strong organizational skills.
Toward the end of the project, tasks were assigned based on availability and equity in the
disbursement of work. As a result, team members journeyed outside of their familiar skill
sets while completing equal amounts of work. We were able to gain new and applicable
experiences through working together! Through communication and acknowledging our
differences (e.g. majors, volunteer/job experience, etc.), we could articulate distinct
project issues that each of us perceived and solve them through a conglomeration of our
ideas.

Through the BLI habit of engaging the world, we considered the different levels of
stakeholders and anticipated the effect of our event on their needs and livelihoods. Once
we identified our primary stakeholders (e.g., students, school nutritionists/dietitians, etc.)
we were able to interview them, receive their feedback on event aspects we were lacking
or could improve on, and incorporate that feedback into the event planning so that
attendee engagement and the impact of our event could be enhanced.

How you plan to apply the skills and lessons you learned in the future
Use of the “Value Difference” BLI habit, where you acquire knowledge of each team
member’s background or qualities, can apply to future team dynamics and even how you
conduct interpersonal relationships! There is strength in difference, whether that be
assigning tasks based on each member’s qualifications or listening to new perspectives
that can enhance or challenge your understanding of things! As a team, we had to
overcome challenges (as mentioned previously) that encouraged us to navigate issues by
pivoting and refining our project. The ability to adapt empowered us to implement our
distinct skills, to persevere, and to keep our core values close in order to achieve what we
set out to do in our lives and careers!

Any next steps to your project if you have any
We do not have any official next steps for our project, as we summarized information
discussed at the event through a one-page nutrition handout. Our team project has truly
changed how each group member views nutrition, cooking, and how to make nutritious
affordable meals. Additionally throughout the process, we have learned about common
myths we once believed and have sought to educate others on these, such as the fact that
canned or frozen food is not lower in nutritional value than fresh food. Several of our
team members intend to continue to engage with the BLI through event attendance and
application to the Michigan Leadership Certificate program as well! Overall, this event
was a wonderful opportunity to learn what it takes to lead and to organize a successful
event!

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