Dinner With Our Alumni: BookChunky

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone! This week, we have someone very special for our Dinner series! What's the dinner series you may ask? It's a series of small interviews that I do with Leadership Development Program (LDP) alumnis to spread more awareness about the program and to help those doing the program!

So, today's interview is with none other than @BookChunky! Book is studying psychology, loves to read and watch TV! They also love to bake and take photographs in their free time. They have been on here for a long time and absolutely love their time here. Fun fact: Book has been one of the oldest LDP mentors with the program. They also have many other roles like Safety Patrol, Listener Sharing Circle Host, and an Internship graduate even!

What was on the menu? Pizza and Waffles!

And it went like:

What made you join the LDP?

I had recently finished my 7 cups internship which was an amazing experience. While listening to people on a sharing circle, someone mentioned the newly introduced Leadership Development Program (LDP). I researched more about it on the app and was instantly interested in making it my next step on 7 cups. I joined and learnt so much from the program.

How was your experience doing the coursework?

The coursework was really amazing and easy. There was so much to learn and read through. The quizzes were great at helping me monitor my learnings.

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

Yes! It wasn't very complicated. The LDP forum would have all the courses and if I couldn't find anything, the email sent always had links to connect me to a specific course. The leaders of this program really made it easy for all the students to move through the courses.

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

Back then during the lockdown of the pandemic, I had finished my University and was one long break. I spent hours talking to people on 7 cups, so in between I decided to keep time aside each week to finish some courses. Since I had made a self-checklist for each course, I was able to properly finish each of the courses well in time.

Which course did you like the most? And why?

The final Course 5 was the one I liked and learnt from the most. It was based on different stories/booklets and there were so many components to take away like, culture, community, team work etc. The tests assisted with keeping track of my progress and reminded me of what all needs to be improved.

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

Oh! The LDP inspired me to take up a few different roles. I became a Mentor for the LDP, which has been so much fun. Working with such different yet amazing people has an absolute pleasure. I also hosted sessions for the Listener Sharing Circle which was so interactive and enjoyable.

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

Keep aside a few hours per week to finish the course. It's not a very long or difficult program, yet dedicating time to every course is crucial to ensure you actually learn something and enjoy yourself too. Rather than getting stressed over the work or burning out, it's better to have time to focus on the courses.

What can we do to make the program better?

Make the program more interactive for new and old LDP members. Maybe have more interactive meetings and activities in the sub-community. Also, the quizzes can become difficult to redo if we have to copy paste from the forum everytime we retake the quiz, easier would be to keep it optional for future use.

Thank you for reading till here everyone! And, thank you so much for doing this, Book, please give them a big shoutout!

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.