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Testimonials
 “When I signed up for Superior Edge, I was certain that completing this edge was out of my reach. When I graduated from high school, I did not consider myself a leader—in fact, I vastly preferred to work by myself and sought to follow rather than to lead. Indeed, the fact that I was able to complete this edge is a significant indication of my personal growth at NMU: besides gaining significant leadership experience, I believe that striving towards completing this edge marked a turning point in my development of greater self-awareness and self-confidence.” ~Megan ForrestLeadership Edge |
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~Sarah Eberhard |
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 “Out of all of my experiences with the Citizenship Edge, my experience with the 4-H’ers of Marquette County has had the biggest impact on me. When I moved to Marquette my freshman year of college, my home was still back in Caro, Michigan. When I was adopted by 4-H families at the Marquette County Fair my junior year, my home was in Marquette. After that experience, I finally felt like I was part of this community. I have a lot of connections with people on campus, but I don’t think I was really a part of the community until I was able to build strong relationships with people that have lived in the area their whole lives. The community belongs to those people, not the students. So, it meant a lot to me for those people to invite me into their lives.” ~Hannah Kratz |
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~Leah Normand |
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~Chris Windy |
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~Jessica Hannink |
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~Amanda Portice |
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~Megan Schneider |
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Being able to say that I have completed this edge has helped me so much. When I was searching for jobs after graduation, everyone was looking for candidates with leadership skills. I was able to communicate all of my experiences and talk about what I took away from them. People were not only impressed with my leadership skills, but the fact that I had spent so much time reflecting on them and learning from my experiences. This edge has helped me for the future because I am now more comfortable with communicating my own leadership style and experiences. I am so happy that I can say I have completed this edge because I had always wanted to be a leader in high school but I was too insecure and shy. I am so happy to see that I have overcome that and have truly become a leader.” ~Sarah Eberhard |
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~Corey Engelhart |
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~Nathan Goetzinger |
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~ Carrie Klemm |
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~Erica Lensink |
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~Mollie Anderson |
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“I will never forget my last Make a Difference Day. We asked the owner of the house to take a picture with all of us after we raked her yard, and she started sobbing when she stepped outside and saw her yard. She told us that she had had such a rough year and that our help meant so much to her. I will never forget when she told us, ‘It’s just so comforting to know that there are good young people out there who are willing to help out a stranger.’ …Make a Difference Day has taught me that giving back to my community, no matter how small the act, holds a big impact on people.”
“At first, my personal expectations for the Citizenship Edge were simply to get a lot more volunteer experience. As I worked through it, I found out that it was a lot more about connecting to the community around me and getting involved. This edge exceeded my expectations. One thing I would suggest to students just beginning this edge would be to attend at least one city commission meeting early on. I waited until my last semester to begin attending them, and this turned out to be one of the most valuable experiences I’d have while completing this edge.
“My experiences over the past few years definitely helped me to become a more engaged citizen. I learned a lot in the process, including the sheer number of opportunities that are out there for people to become involved in the community and the fact that some quick and easy activities can be just as important as community service internships. I also learned how many places, like the Moosewood Nature Center, rely on volunteers to stay open, and that the judicial system required involved citizens to function. Because of this, even the smallest involvements from each and every citizen are needed to keep society going. …I also learned that I can get a sense of satisfaction and feel good about myself after volunteering for just a few hours a week. I also learned that volunteering allowed me to learn a lot more about the community than I would have otherwise. I feel very satisfied with my growth and the things I learned throughout completion of the Citizenship Edge. I had no interest in civics prior to starting this edge, but my experiences allowed me to gain a much better understanding of something I never would have been exposed to otherwise. …My involvement within the Citizenship Edge has already given me a great advantage compared to others. I received a scholarship for my first year of grad school at Central Michigan University based partly on the volunteer activities I participated in throughout my time here at NMU. All of my activities have been very rewarding, and they have all helped shape me into the person I am today.”
“Throughout high school and starting NMU, when it came time to pick course electives, I choose classes that seemed somewhat interesting yet in a topic I was fully aware of and would not have to put a lot of effort in. After joining Superior Edge, I began to look at classes with the purpose of completing this edge, but after taking one cultural course and falling in love with it, I signed up for another one without thinking of the Superior Edge benefits.
“One of the most important things I learned through completing this edge is that at the end of the day we are all people. Yes we have different cultures and customs, even within one country, but we are all humans and deserve the same respect.”
“I think by completing this edge, I really learned that others are more in need and just as important as me. It sounds really obvious and really cliché, but I mean it. I think before this, I really was ignorant, apathetic and egocentric. I learned that I can do something to make a difference in others’ lives very easily and very simply. I also learned that sometimes others have it right and I have it wrong. Sometimes my ideas aren’t the best or aren’t the right ones. We were not put on this planet alone for a reason.”
“Being a great leader means being flexible and able to adapt to the needs of others. Sometimes being a leader means sitting back and encouraging others to lead. Being a leader means living everyday as a role model and really being “the change you wish to see in the world”. Your actions speak louder than your words and other people are watching you constantly.
“Frankly, when I began Superior Edge, I wasn’t expecting to complete the Leadership Edge. I don’t plan to run for office, teach high school, or lead a revolutionary coupe anytime soon. But when I arrived in Ghana, I quickly realized that because I am an American, I would immediately become someone that plays a leadership role. In addition, I was put in a teaching role the second week after landing in Africa. This edge did meet my personal expectation in that I have, in fact, learned to appreciate the multi-dimensional art of leadership. As a follower, it is very easy to criticize your leaders. But when you’re a leader, you quickly realized that it is very, very hard.”
“I learned that becoming an effective leader takes practice and time. I am still not very sure that you are ever ‘done’ learning leadership skills. It is something you continue to build on over time. This edge taught me a lot about leadership. It forced me into situations that I was uncomfortable with. I know that I have grown and will continue to grow as a leader. I feel like I am better for having partaken in this edge.”
“The most significant thing I learned about myself is that the limits and doubts I thought I had were only those that I placed on myself. The harder I work and the more I push myself out of my comfort zone the harder those limits fall and the better leader I become. I am studying education and this Leadership Edge has given me an advantage towards my future plans as a teacher, because I have gained experience working with youth, and I have developed my leadership style. Through this experience and through my own growth, I learned how passionate I am about teaching and how excited I am about my future.”
“When I was a freshman, I never would have dreamed to have become the leader I am today or even acquire the Leadership Edge. It’s taken a lot of guts, time, and faith in myself to get to where I am now…. What did I learn about becoming an effective leader? I learned that everyone has a different leadership style and needs to find their ‘niche,’ and since I followed my heart, everything else followed. I got involved in an issue that mattered deeply to me and one thing led to another, and it has made me a much more confident, poised, and mature individual….I am not the person I was freshman year, and I contribute that to my leadership involvement on campus.”
“I knew right away that this was going to be the first one I completed. I am extremely driven to have a career that I enjoy and I think that getting hands-on experience is the fastest way to make that happen. I expected myself to build my resume incredibly while working on this edge, and I did just that. I have padded my resume with many hours of work experience that will hopefully land me a national level internship, and eventually a great career.”
This edge has helped me to reflect on the teaching experiences I have had at Northern. When I look back at some of the experiences I had at the beginning of my degree and contrast those memories with the student teaching experience that I am participating in now, I can see tremendous growth. I have learned to feel confident about my skills as a beginning educator, and I understand the growth that should continue to take place in professional development experiences throughout my career. I believe that the Real World Edge has given me a distinct advantage in my career, in that I can confidently look back at my time at Northern knowing that I have had sufficient time with students in a safe environment before I will have them on my own.”
“Truthfully, I believe that my apparent failure at this edge taught me more than any success could. ….I also had the idea that to complete the ‘real world’ I h ad to have an experience that was solely positive, only enhancing my beliefs that that is how I wanted to spend my life. Looking back on it, however, I realize how positive my ‘real world’ edge experience truly was. Without having the opportunity to complete this edge through traveling to Europe, I never would have realized that I no longer wished to be a French minor. …In closing, the greatest thing that has come out of my ‘real world’ edge experience is that it allowed me to truly realize what fit and what did not. If I could not have that experience, I never would have realized my shortcomings, and attempt to find a better fit elsewhere.”
“If a student were to walk up and ask me about Superior Edge, I would have a few pointers to give them:
“I would tell students just starting out with the program, Superior Edge, just to enjoy the experiences they have while they can here at NMU. …Do the things you have a passion for, and try new things to see if you may have a passion you never knew you had. The program is all about trying new things and testing your limits. If you do that, you’ll grow in ways you never knew you could. You really don’t realize how much you actually contribute and accomplish until you sit down and reflect. The hours go by quickly, you’d be surprised how easy they are to complete.”
"The best suggestion I can give for future students participating in Superior Edge is to just be open to every opportunity, try a variety of experiences, and make sure to log every activity right after you do it. I kept track of most of my activities, but there were many that I forgot to log. Superior Edge gives you a great resource to log and reflect upon your experiences, which will be extremely valuable when you look back at your college career and say, ‘Hmmm…what have I done over the last four years?’ Take advantage of this resource as it will help you complete the program faster and serve as a great source of accomplishment in the years to come.”
“For people who are active members of campus, I fully recommend Superior Edge. I used it as an amazing tool for tracking activities that I had done throughout my time at NMU. If I hadn’t logged my hours and had a short reflection, I would have had a hard time recalling all of the things that I had accomplished during my first and second year here. Something I wish I had done and advise others to do would be to keep logging hours ever after you reach 100. …Another tip would be to try one’s best not to procrastinate and start logging hours right when you first become a student here.”
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