“Big Brother” winner visits campus

By: Sarah Kaider, Contributing Writer

Big Brother 10 winner Dan Gheesling visited campus Friday to speak to students and members of the community about finding success as a leader.

“I saw he tweeted for a student program, and I wanted to meet him, so I applied and did whatever I could to bring him here,” Towson Student Ambassador Aakash Pancholi said.

Gheesling, who in addition to winning the 10th season of CBS reality game show Big Brother and placing second in season 14, defined leadership as “a person who people want to follow.”  He said that by following his six steps, one could be successful in any field.

During the presentation, entitled “The Six Necessary Duties of Epic Leaders,” Gheesling advised that students should be proactive about interacting with those around them.

“If you take action, you’ll be a better leader,” Gheesling said.

He recommended that students try to get to know the people they work with by following up, keeping in touch, asking at least 10 questions per conversation and offering suggestions to those in need of assistance.

Gheesling also recommended not getting involved in gossip, talking to those who tend to be alone and remembering to ask oneself how he or she acted as a leader every night.

During his presentation, Gheesling also took tweets from Towson students and put them up on the screen. He explained that he looked up each of those students and learned three things about them to show that he could follow his own advice about getting to know people and following up.

“[The presentation] was helpful and inspiring,” junior Kayla Williams said.

In addition to Towson, Gheesling has also spoken at Northwestern University, Vassar College and Keene State. In a post on his website, Gheesling describes coaching as “[his] life’s work.”

“[Gheesling is] a very down to earth guy.  He’s leading by example and you can see that in his everyday life,” sophomore Billy Goheen said.