Change makers: A look at the Hamm Leadership Program

Changing the world one by one 

“I’ve always defined success by thinking about the philosophy statement they write at the end,” says Judd Pucella. “If the students walk away from this experience understanding that leadership is not just about them, but other people, and that it has an ethical component — those are extremely important to me. Many of them come in saying Hitler was a ‘good’ leader because they equate ‘good’ with what they consider to be ‘effective.’ To counter that, we read about bad leadership and look at different ways to be bad. I’ve never had a group, whether here or at the college level, that didn’t include some who were focused initially on people who have gotten other people to do really awful things.”

“I can see the change in me,” observes Ken Kameyama, a rising 11th-grader from Japan who says his teachers encouraged him to be more vocal. “They allowed me to realize that my voice is something essential in the group and now I’m really confident to speak up. … Everyone’s voice is so important. Around the table no one is superior.”

A budding entrepreneur

Antonia Unger loved the program’s focus on “developing yourself, growing out of your comfort zone.” Returning to Zurich, this rising senior expects to “go up to people a lot more,” and “go through life in a much more open way.”

“It was amazing sitting around the table with so many nationalities,” Unger says. “The more diverse the group is, the more creative and different ideas come together.”

As the leader of a recently launched internet startup that sells ginger shots — healthy drinks, available only in Switzerland — she plans to “challenge the other members of my team to talk more, to put in ideas and encourage them to take over control of a meeting.”

Unger hopes to become “an inspiration, a role model … who can change something even on a small level for people in the world.”

An airline takes off

At age 9, Smaiyl Makyshov ’20 dreamed of becoming a pilot. After two years shuttling between Kazakhstan and England, where he attended school for several years, Makyshov’s sights shifted to the analysis of airline efficiencies. Precocious abilities led him to a meeting with the CEO of Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s national airline, where the then- 12-year-old “talked with passion about my interest in aviation.” As a follow-up, Makyshov emailed an analysis of airline routes. “A year later I saw that one of the routes I recommended was opened,” he says. “I was thrilled.”

After attending the Hamm program, he’s intent on combining aviation and environmental science, a taste he developed at PEA’s ACCESS EXETER summer program in 2016, and he hopes to start an environmentally friendly airline. Fulfilling a two-year wish, Makyshov started this fall as a new lower in the regular session.

The power of charisma

“I thought leadership was more oriented to achieving results,” says Achilleas Martinis, a rising 11th-grader from Greece who now lives in Lausanne. “At Exeter, I learned that building relationships is as important as the results.”

The Kennedys get a little credit, too. It was during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum that Martinis was struck by the 35th president’s charisma, and the power inherent in it. That same day, as the class practiced negotiation exercises in the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate, he struggled to build consensus. “I learned that you should focus on the similarities that unite people rather than the differences that divide them.”

Martinis leaves Exeter with a brand-new interest: science journalism. “Exeter has shown me to set high goals and reach for them.”  

Rugby athlete finds his voice

Ken Kameyama arrived at Exeter with some anxiety, but that soon melted away. “Everyone is so open-minded… It was a fantastic experience for me.”

“Japan is a very reactive culture,” Ken explains when asked how his life will be different when he returns home. “They keep themselves in their shells. I will be one of those to break that.”

He’s ready to hit the ground running with family, friends and the team he will vice-captain. “My goal is to have the new rugby team moving, flowing, to be the connection between the captain and the team members, to make the best team we can possibly make. Longer term, I learned that it’s not the position that makes a leader. It’s the personality. The skills. All aspects of a leader. I want to show my personality in the leadership I take.”