This year, MUSC ASDA sent 5 students to the National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois from November 4 through November 6. Emily, Katie, Brian, Anne Miller and myself had a wonderful time exploring Chicago and spending the weekend with dental students from across the nation as we worked to grow our leadership skills, reinforce the importance of organized dentistry, and improve our ASDA chapter by exchanging ideas with other chapter leaders.

This year’s conference included 4 main focuses: ASDA Chapter Management, Career Planning, Leadership Fundamentals, and Personal Development/Wellness. It was often difficult to choose one break out session over another because they were all so relevant and intriguing! Here are a few breakout sessions we attended:

• “Creating a Strategic Plan for Your Chapter: Workshop to Develop Your Plan”

• “Managing Chapter Finances”

• “Building Your Personal Brand”

• “How to Get into a Residency”

• “Women in Dentistry: Money, Marriage, Motherhood and Making Tough Decisions”

It was also quite an experience to be in Chicago right after the Cubs won the World Series. The city was buzzing with excitement, and their victory parade was just a block from our hotel! We also indulged in Chicago deep-dish pizza every night for dinner and enjoyed attending various social events hosted by vendors. We spent one night on a dinner cruise overlooking the Chicago skyline- what a view (thanks MedPro!) and another night mingling with District 4 members at Exchequer, where again we ate our weight in deep-dish pizza (thanks EDIC!).

Overall, we had an amazing time at this year’s National Leadership Conference and look forward to sharing all we learned with the rest of our Executive Committee and chapter members upon our return to MUSC!