HDF 190: FLITE (FIRST-YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE)

URI MINOR IN LEADERSHIP STUDIES, CENTER FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

CORE REQUIREMENT FOR THE LEADERSHIP MINOR
SPRING 2014

LEARNING CONTRACT

Goal: To use my signature strengths to help individuals grow both personally and
professionally in that they learn about what leadership means to them so they can create
their own definition of it and then, in turn, use it in practical application in their everyday
life

Activity: North Woods Challenge Course Facilitator Training

- Go to training sessions March 21st-23rd, 2014
- Do at least two shadows in one full academic year
- Respectfully listen to the groups wants and needs
- Facilitate different elements depending on the groups goals
- Lead in de-briefing after each element
- Discuss anything else they might like in terms of leadership experience or knowledge

Evidence: see attached

Annotation: On Friday, March 21st I attended my first out of three training

sessions/workshops with Alison Jackson Frasier, coordinator for the Center of Student
Leadership Development, as well as other new students aspiring to become facilitators.
That session included a lot of paperwork and reading of the manual. The manual included
information about the elements, safety procedures, and how to go about de-briefing.
Unfortunately, I could not make the next session the following day as I had work and my
Residential Advisor individual interview. The third day of workshops was where we put
our knowledge into action and starting shadowing experienced facilitators. I co-shadowed
with Maghan, Morgan, and Hannah as we carefully watched Raven take the lead. Where
I really got to put my skills into use was when I co-shadowed the second time, where I
played an even larger role with the organization. I was with Nate, an experienced, two
year facilitator, and again Maghan and other newly trained facilitator Michelle. I got to
help pick out the elements that would effectively help Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional
co-ed chemistry fraternity we worked with. It was clear to me after seeing them interact
with each other in the beginning that they were very disconnected and needed to work on
communication immediately. There were many ideas being discussed, but also multiple
not being heard because of lots of members talking over another, which was counter-
productive. What I saw was a group with a lot of potential and although they were not
succeeding, they did not know why or how to make a change in the right direction. After
discussing with my co-facilitators, we decided to have them do the Islands element.
There is three wooden platforms about six to eight feet apart and the group is given two
boards, one shorter than the other. The objective is to move from the first to the last
platform without the participants or boards touching the ground. They improved on
listening and even asked questions which was a big help for them. It became apparent to
them that it was becoming easier once everyone was on the same page so to challenge
them even more, we punished them. For example, we blindfolded a member as well as
silenced another to add some more difficulties. Afterwards, I was very excited to lead the
de-brief as this element was one of my personal favorites because of my initial fear and
how I overcame struggle when I attempted it my first time. After each element, I saw the
group opening up more to each other in the fact that they were more willing to discuss
what just occurred, why it happened, and how they are going to use what they learned
here in the future with their organization or personal life. I noticed more timid, quiet
members of the group step up and fulfill the typical leadership role they normally would
not have taken and that experience was good for them to have under their belt. Overall
the organization became more confident in their abilities together as a unit and as strong
individuals and for me, that was extremely rewarding. Another important aspect I would
like to touch upon is the fact that I am only a freshman and I was able to teach and work
with seniors as well as be able to influence them in a positive way. One of my signature
strengths is restorative, which I take as the need to fix processes and make everything as
efficient as it can be. That came into play in that I wanted to help Alpha Chi Omega
change how they communicated in their organization to make their meeting time more
positive and effective. Another one of my top strengths is individualization and I strongly
believe everyone is important on a team. Each piece of the puzzle matters and I enjoy
working with others who are different so we can utilize all of our unique strengths to
succeed as one unit. I was able to see that happening with this organization as they came
together and worked as a whole, rather than a bunch of individuals. Another strength of
mine is communication which was essential for this project as well as everyday life. Poor
communication can have negative effects on others and is detrimental to growth, together
or individually. It is of extreme importance to have others know how they feel regardless
of the situation at hand. Misunderstandings are setbacks to progress and can hurt others in
the process so I work hard to make it so that they do not occur very often. Like I learned
at Institute, be impeccable with your word! For this facilitation, I always made it very
clear to talk about how one another felt about the topic or others ideas. Opening up the
floor for discussion and criticism is crucial because feedback that fellow peers give is to
be valued in that there is always room for improvement. After my facilitation was done,
we talked about their group returning in the fall and they even expressed interest in
coming once a semester. To me, this was successful because I gave students the
opportunity to learn more about themselves as a leader both personally and
professionally, as well as learn about each other in leadership positions. They felt that
their time was well invested in our facilitation services and want to come back to learn
even more.

Instructor Signature: ____________________________________________

Student Signature: ______________________________________________