Dinner With Our Alumni: Ines1229

Hello everyone, it's me again! I hope all of you are staying phenomenal and safe For this week, we have a very special LDP graduate with us for dinner. For all those that are new, the dinner series is a series of small interviews that I do with the Leadership Development Program (LDP) alumni to spread more awareness about the program and to hoopefully help out our current trainees.

Let me present, @Ines1229! Ines has been a listener here since February, 2020. And in their own words, Ines is "one of the individuals who have been blessed to be given the opportunity to exist on Planet Earth" - and that is just so beautiful! They are a Record Label manager, a student who loves to organize live music events. She has always said that she is somebody who has struggled with a lot of mental health issues and has always found relief in helping others with all their heart - more power to you, Ines! If you know Ines, she is super involved in the community and the LDP team is very lucky to have her as an LDP Mentor! Other than that, you can find her as a Room Supporter, Intern Mentor, Peer Support...and so many more roles - I would be awake for days jotting them down xD

What was on the menu? Shanghai Chicken for Ines and some General Tso's Tofu for me!

And it went like:

What made you join the LDP?

I enjoy professional development, I live for getting better. I really think there’s always place for getting better - I think having something to work towards always makes you feel better, no matter how low you may feel. Knowledge is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

How was your experience doing the coursework?

It was great actually! When I joined the LDP, I did not have a busy schedule at all, therefore it has been really easy for me to go through the entire coursework! One thing which has helped me through it was how interesting all coursework is! I’ve learnt something new from each and every course I have completed! (Also, I think it took me about 1-2 weeks to go through it all).

Did you find it easy to navigate through the forums for each course?

Definitely! It’s been really easy to navigate through all forums; all coursework included next steps which I had to take after I had completed it - which has definitely made it clearer than ever!

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

It was way too interesting; I was so excited to learn more, it took me about 2 weeks to complete it all - I just did not have the patience to go through it at a slower pace, I wanted to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible!

Which course did you like the most? And why?

Woah, that’s such a difficult question! I believe Course 1 was my favourite, as it includes so many ways in which we can get to know ourselves better as well as finding out what sort of leadership suits us - understanding my gifts and strengths from the BMTI was so helpful throughout my real professional life as well! Course 2 was amazing as well, you get to learn so much about our community and how it all works!

What role did you get into after the program? How are you liking the role you got into for the LDP?

I remember I had no Leadership roles within our community before taking part in the LDP; this course has kind of helped me to get prepared for all the roles I currently hold. Throughout LDP, I have taken up 3 leadership roles, which I started my growth path with: the Room Supporter role, the Peer Supporter & Welcoming Team Member, as well as the Community Mentor role!

If you had to give one tip to the current trainees, what would that be?

Take your time whilst going through the coursework; it may seem as though it is a really comprehensive course, but it really isn’t. The structure of the whole course is such a great example of ‘quality over quantity’!

What can we do to make the program better?

I think the only thing for me was getting in touch with a Mentor. Maybe pairing all trainees with a mentor would be really helpful for everyone deciding to join the LDP!

...And that's Ines for you! Thank you for reading till here everyone! And, thank you so much for doing this, @Ines1229, please give them a big shoutout! Ines has been wonderful thoughout

I would love to hear any suggestions/question ideas that I can add to this series. If you are an LDP graduate and would love to contribute, please PM me so we can set up our dinner!

If you want to apply for the LDP, please click here.