Campus Connection

UW-La Crosse senior Brittany Bozmoski has resisted some dreams. Ideas like exploring fashion design or art have always seemed silly and unrealistic. But recently she learned not to dismiss a dream. The message came from speaker Mitch Matthews at a conference in Chicago. Bozmoski was so inspired that she worked with fellow UW-L senior Kailey Charlton to bring Matthews to UW-L. He will lead a Big Dream Gathering at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Valhalla, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition. Students, UW-L faculty and staff and community members are encouraged to join. The event is free. The best part of the dream conference is participants walk away with tangible steps to achieve the dream, says Charlton. Matthews guides a dreaming session where everyone is encouraged to write down their dreams and then explain what they’ve done or need to do to achieve them. Those dreams and explanations are posted around the room and others comment on them. For instance, people might write something motivational or provide a contact they know in the field. Students walk away from the conference with contacts, mentors, motivational words and other information to take tangible steps toward the dream. “I keep hearing, ‘It is not about what you know, but who you know.’ That’s great if you know people,” says Charlton. “For some people, it is really hard. How do you meet these people? How do you go about approaching this professional?” The Big Dream Gathering is one way, she says. “This conference helped me realize it’s not silly to dream bigger and to have a unique dream that might be hard to achieve,” says Bozmoski. The event was sponsored by Northwestern Mutual, UW-L College of Business Administration, Campus Activities Board, American Marketing Association and UW-L’s Delta Sigma Phi. For more information visit BIGDreamGathering.com Or visit the Facebook event page.