There is a particular kind of student who is difficult to satisfy with the answer, That’s just the way it is.
They notice things: a problem on campus, a need in a community, a person being overlooked, an opportunity nobody seems to be pursuing, or an idea that feels possible even when they cannot yet explain exactly why. Some of those students already know what they want to do about it.
Most don’t.
Ignite was built for both.
The Sullivan Ignite Retreat gives students room to explore where their interests, abilities and sense of responsibility might lead. It combines workshops, coaching, reflection and relationships with other students who are asking many of the same questions.
Students do not all arrive in the same place, so Ignite does not ask them to. The retreat offers three tracks based not on where someone thinks a student ought to be, but on where that student actually is.
The Personal Track is for students still trying to understand themselves. What gives me energy? What am I good at? What do I value? What kind of contribution might fit the person I am becoming?
The Problem Track begins outside the student. Participants examine an issue they care about, learn to understand it more fully, identify the people already affected by or working on it, and begin asking where they might contribute.
The Project Track is for students who have already begun. They may have a campus initiative, early organization, venture or idea and need help moving from possibility toward execution.
“Students come to Ignite from very different places,” said Josh Nadzam, Ignite Retreat director. “Some are trying to figure out what they care about. Some already see a problem they want to address, and others are working on a project and need help moving it forward. We designed the three tracks around that reality. We want to meet students where they are, challenge them, connect them with people who can help, and make sure they leave with something concrete they can do next.”
The emphasis on next matters. Ignite is not trying to convince students that three days can answer every question about purpose or leadership. It is trying to help them begin.
Sometimes beginning means changing an idea. Sometimes it means discovering that a problem is more complicated than it first appeared. Sometimes it means meeting another student and realizing there are people elsewhere asking the same questions.
And sometimes it means hearing someone say, for the first time, That’s worth pursuing.
“One of the things I love about Ignite is watching students realize that they are not the only person asking these questions,” Nadzam said. “They meet students from other campuses who care about many of the same things, and pretty quickly the room feels different. There is a level of trust that develops, and once that happens, students are much more willing to test an idea, ask for help and think bigger about what they might be able to do.”
That may be one of Ignite’s most important lessons. Leadership does not begin with having every answer.
Sometimes it begins with paying attention, and caring enough to do something next.
Fall Ignite Retreat: October 9–11, 2026
Registration Deadline: September 15
Registration: $575
Students should check with their campus Sullivan contact about available endowment or institutional funding that may help cover participation.
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