“I believe I can learn a lot from others, good or bad,” elementary education freshman Luxin Xue said.

The session, led by the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, Vice President Kelcey Gapske, was one in a series of leadership development programs hosted by RHA during its second annual Spartan Leadership Conference.

The main goal of the conference was for all participants to take away something new about their leadership style and how to develop personally and professionally, Kelly Herberholz, RHA communications coordinator and conference chairperson, said.

“If we achieve that, we’ve accomplished something,” she said.

The conference included 11 sessions centered on different aspects of leadership — including how to address diversity, technology and stress — as well as a keynote speech from MSU alumnus and TextsFromLastNight.com editor Philip Bator.

There were about 80 registrants total, Herberholz said.

RHA Chief of Staff Meghan McLaughlin also led a session entitled Shape Up! that showed participants the diverse styles of leadership students have and how they can work together for the best combination.

She said it is important to get to know people with different personalities to encourage new ideas and greater learning.

“I think diversity is getting bigger and bigger,” she said. “I don’t think people are realizing the differences people have.”

Xue, who attended both McLaughlin’s and Gapske’s sessions, said she learned about her leadership style from being around others with different approaches.

Xue said she tends to overanalyze ideas and explain too much, but the sessions taught her to examine what the specific task is and how she could work with others toward a common goal.

Herberholz said although she will graduate this year, she hopes to see the conference grow in both attendance and programming to better benefit students in leadership positions.

“I look forward to seeing what it becomes,” she said.