What it means to be a Winkle

By Mikalya Boyd, Editor In Chief

This weekend on SELD’s annual Leadership Retreat, I was the team leader for a bunch called the Periwinkles – lovingly known as ‘the Winkles.’ We all learned a lot about each other and our identities through our StrengthsQuest results, our adventures and our conversations together. While our team won the catapult challenge (and should’ve won the photo scavenger challenge), we really won when it came to our bonding experience and how special the weekend was because of how we connected. The retreat was an amazing time to get to know people you may have otherwise walked past in the halls of Old Main. Our star-studded team consisted of me, Ashton Bechtol, Kenny Paolini, Jadyn Moriarty, Leyla Akil and Javonte Washington. Each night around our bonfire, we celebrated those on the retreat for doing especially great or showing growth, and I couldn’t help but observe how the Winkles were constantly recognized for their kindness, helpfulness, humor and beyond.  

Ashton Bechtol was one of our team members who highlighted our team identity, especially when she became the de facto leader of the group during the catapult challenge, in which the team leader was not able to assist the team in building a catapult. Bechtol was not only a firm guide but also made sure to take everybody’s ideas into consideration, really listen to them and follow through. When she was asked what being a Winkle meant to her, Bechtol emphasized that “to be a Winkle is to embrace the unexpected treasures hidden beneath the surface – to dig deeper than just a name, but to find a family and a sense of belonging.”

This is our team poster, created by all of us. Our house is formed out of the words of our top strengths, and our roof is made especially from the strengths three of our members had in their top five. Our poster is a physical representation of how our strengths meshed together to form a stable foundation of our home, and our truffula tree represents our individuality, adaptability and empathy through themes found in The Lorax. “Home, where the Winkles are” is our slogan and it represents how all of our team members have a spot and a special place in Beaver Hollow and in each other’s hearts. Though it may be a silly name and an even sillier group, it is experiences like these that contribute to our individual identities, but also to our university identity as being ‘where leaders are made,’ and I know each one of my Winkles is an amazing leader already.

The Winkles Team Poster Via Mikayla Boyd

Leyla Akil, Mikayla Boyd, Ashton Bechtol, Javonte Washington, Kenny Paolini and Jadyn Moriarty Via Tariq Lefever