Relevant KASB capacities:
- Knowledge
- Self-defined understanding of leadership and ability to identify where one is as a leader in the context of their own definition
- Intrapersonal Skills
- Ability to engage in reflection and critical evaluation of self as a leader
- Organizational Skills
- Can identify potential in others
- Behavior
- Lead for the common good of others
Reflection:
A Freshman Interest Group (FIG) is an option for incoming freshman to take a cluster of classes in addition to a UW 101 class with the same group of people. They are usually blocked into "concentrations," so the pre-med FIG would include a mix of CHEM 142 and MATH 124, for example. When I entered college, I did not find a FIG option attractive since I figured I would already be meeting people in my sorority. I opted to take a full 15-credit load instead. Although getting ahead in credits was great (I came into college with 28 credits), looking back, I really do wish I had taken a FIG. Meeting new people isn't always the easiest, so you would think it is a no-brainer option to take when it is made easy. However, I did not, so the moment I learned of the opportunity to become a FIG leader, I jumped at the chance to do it!
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| During Freshman Kick-Off! |
The journey of becoming a FIG leader entails an extensive application process, taking a leadership class in the Spring, creating a 10-week lesson plan, and bringing it to actualization in the Fall. I was given a Communications FIG, so the clustered classes included in my course were COM 201 and ENGL 131. I had 21 students and I loved being able to teach them all!
Self-defined understanding of leadership and ability to identify where one is as a leader in the context of their own definition
The purpose of the Spring leadership class was to prepare all incoming FIG leaders for what to expect. Every FIG is different because of the students, so there wasn't a cookie cutter structure set in place. We were given a lot of autonomy as FIG leaders in context of what we wanted to teach as long as we hit 4 required topics. A couple of themes repeated during our time in the class regarding the elements of a good teacher and a good leader. One big theme was RESPECT - how do you earn it and how do you give it? We read a chapter from Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's book, Respect, and led an in-class discussion on how we could implement her lessons into our classrooms. Below you will find the compilation of my lesson plans and my structure around leading my students to success!
Ability to engage in reflection and critical evaluation of self as a leader
In the middle of the quarter, I sent out a Catalyst survey to my FIG leaders asking for feedback. I can teach about all the things I want, but if my students didn't care or it didn't resound with them, the lesson would be lost. I found it super important to gauge their interest levels because it was hard for me to gauge how they really felt in class.
My biggest area of interest was talking about things they wanted to learn about and how they wanted to learn them (icebreakers, games, discussion, etc). I also wanted to learn if I was creating a community between the students so I was particularly interested in their answers concerning how close they felt to the rest of the group. After receiving these answers (below), it helped me better shape the rest of my curriculum. At the end of the day, I'm learning just as much as my students are.
Can identify potential in others
After successfully completing my time as a FIG Leader, I was a little bittersweet because I could not do it again as I was a graduating senior. I wish I had learned of this opportunity sooner so I could have done it again a second time to (1) reap the rewards of giving back and (2) change some things I did so I could do better. However, I was given the opportunity to recruit for the next batch of FIG leaders. I figured that this was the next best thing!
I spent a handful of hours sitting down with the First Year Program directors interviewing students. It was a completely new experience being on the other side. We discussed their experiences and if those experiences were a good indicator of predicting their potential to be a successful FIG leader. One of the biggest characteristics I tried to identify was passion. The significant difference between each interview was the energy levels of the ones who came in. I remember one student telling a mediocre story (in content) of making sure he got that A in class, but his storytelling was so great and enthusiastic, I could tell he was really eager to become a FIG leader. I figured if students were caring enough to prepare a story and to really get involved in the details, then that passion would carry over to giving back to the students.
Lead for the common good of others
Another quality I looked for in potential FIG leaders was if they were doing it for the right reasons. I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted to do when I first came to the UW - I really wish I had a mentor then to guide me. If I could do anything in the slightest, I wanted to impart my knowledge and wisdom to the future! An example of this are seen in the 1-on-1 interviews I conducted. I gave each of my students 20 minutes of my time to discuss how their quarter was going and if they had any questions for me. That's over 400 minutes or over 6 hours of my time dedicated to just talking to these students on a personal basis. Although I spent a LOT of time sitting down with them, I learned a LOT about everyone's individual situations. Not only did I feel like I knew my students a little bit better, I believe that the seed of respect grew a little more between myself and my students. What was even more flattering was that the 1-on-1s were not required for the classroom, yet I had no trouble of having every student sign up for a time slot.
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