Dinner With Our Alumni: hopebeyondpain

Greetings community! Today, we have a very special dinner table conversation! For those that are new, Dinner With Our Alumni is a series of short interviews with Leadership Development Program (LDP) alumni. These help us reflect upon the program and help our current trainees as well as spread awareness about the program! If you like them, do share!

For this week, we have @hopebeyondpain! They are a teenie from Singapore who is about to age up (oldie!!) They are very active in the trauma support sub-community, hosting events and check-ins. They are also a wonderful host for Sharing Circles and Healthy Habits!

What was on the menu? A very semi-healthy semi-unhealthy dinner xD Cookies and cream ice cream, pasta, cookies, and watermelon!

And it went like:

What made you join the LDP?

So many leaders here lead their communities with so much courage and compassion, and I couldn’t help but wonder how they did it! They really inspired me to work on my leadership skills, and the LDP presented the perfect opportunity.

How was your experience doing the coursework?

It was surprisingly really insightful! I’ve done many leadership courses at school, but none of them were ever this comprehensive and reflective. Many of these concepts had been taught to me at some point, but the LDP really showed me the different ways each lesson could be applied in my leadership and even daily life. Being able to read everyone else’s thoughts was also really helpful in showing me the different angles to view each lesson from.

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

Yep! It was super simple! Each post had a link to the next one, so I didn’t even need to go back to the previous page to click on the next course.

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

I counted the total number of lessons (30 I believe) and divided it by the number of weeks I was planning to spend (8), which came to about 4 each week. Then I would focus on just finishing 4 lessons a week, which was a lot easier than thinking about 30 plus the quizzes over two months. I would do a couple on weekdays, then finish the other two on the weekends when I had more time. The workload might sound intimidating, but it really wasn’t once I figured out a routine.

Which course did you like the most? And why?

Wow, this is a difficult one. There were many lessons that I really enjoyed, but section 3 is probably the one I enjoyed the most. It helped me see problems and distractions in a new light, and I felt a lot better prepared to take on new responsibilities after that section. If you’re someone who finds leadership daunting, I would definitely recommend spending a little more time on this session to fully take in the lessons.

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

I was already a sharing circle host when I started, but I got into the role of teen community star for the Trauma Support Sub-community not long after. I was nervous about signing up for leadership positions with heavier workloads, but the leadership training and skills I learned in LDP really gave me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and go for it!

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

Pace yourself for the lessons! It can be so easy to go in enthusiastically and try to do 2-3 in one day, but you’ll tire out really easily. Each lesson is most effective if you really take the time to think and answer the questions.

PS, this tip also applies to every leadership role that has ever existed!

What can we do to make the program better?

Hmmm, maybe if we could break up these lessons into two to three shorter programs that do not need to be completed within the same time frame, it could really help more trainees to finish the coursework. They would have time to take a break between sections, and can better plan their schedules to accommodate the extra time they’re spending on coursework.

Thank you for reading till here! Please give a big shout-out to @hopebeyondpain for doing this!

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.