On April 22nd, LTI had its monthly General Body Meeting (GBM). This month's meeting consisted of the usual icebreaker, delicious snacks, and an overview of upcoming events for LTI. In addition to these things, this month's GBM stood out from past GBMs in that the focus of this meeting was to assemble next year's LTI executive board.
This month's icebreaker was a game of cherades. Everyone was split into two groups. Within each group every person was given a minute to act out a word or phrase. While no points were recorded, this game was still very competitive.
In addition to the icebreaker, final plans were made for the weekend retreat. The plan for the retreat was to fly kites at Boston Commons and then have an early dinner. Additionally, the group also made plans for the closing ceremony and summer plans (with some traveling, and others staying behind to teach a class with HSSP).
Finally, a large part of the GBM was spent assembling next year's LTI executive board. Elections of each position were used to assemble next year’s executive board. While some positions were not filled, after a brief discussion, we decided to leave those positions alone and instead let them be filled by next year’s new members.
Overall, I was pleased with this month's GBM.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
April 5 session
In this week's session of LTI the focus was on improving interviewing skills and raising awareness of world hunger.
The first featured event of this session was a mock interview where students got a chance to practice their interviewing skills. Afterwards, students participated in an activity that demonstrated poverty and world hunger. In this activity, the classroom was divided in two, and half of the students were placed into the "upper class" side of the classroom, while the other students were placed into the "lower class" side of the classroom. Waiters at a fancy restaurant served the students placed into the "upper class" side, while the students in the "lower class" side had to share a bowl of rice. In the end, the students of the "upper class" tried to persuade the guard to let the students from the "lower class" migrate the "upper class" side of the classroom. After the activity, a discussion about poverty and world hunger took place.
Finally, after the lunch break, the students ended the day by comparing and contrasting masculine interviewing skills with feminine interviewing skills. In addition to a discussion, this activity required the students to demonstrating their interviewing style to the entire group.
The first featured event of this session was a mock interview where students got a chance to practice their interviewing skills. Afterwards, students participated in an activity that demonstrated poverty and world hunger. In this activity, the classroom was divided in two, and half of the students were placed into the "upper class" side of the classroom, while the other students were placed into the "lower class" side of the classroom. Waiters at a fancy restaurant served the students placed into the "upper class" side, while the students in the "lower class" side had to share a bowl of rice. In the end, the students of the "upper class" tried to persuade the guard to let the students from the "lower class" migrate the "upper class" side of the classroom. After the activity, a discussion about poverty and world hunger took place.
Finally, after the lunch break, the students ended the day by comparing and contrasting masculine interviewing skills with feminine interviewing skills. In addition to a discussion, this activity required the students to demonstrating their interviewing style to the entire group.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Session after Spring Break
The first session of LTI after the spring break can best be described as a “session of inspiration.”
One featured event of this session was the presentations on inspirational leaders by each of the students. Each student gave a short presentation on leaders that either inspired them, or displayed the characteristics of an effective leader. The people presented on ranged from political figures like Barack Obama, to historic figures like Malcolm X, to family members and famous public figures. Overall the theme of the presentations was to show that effective leaders are those who stand up for what they believe in, take action for their beliefs, and inspire other people to be just as passionate for those beliefs as well. After the presentations were finished suggestions were made for improvements.
In addition to the presentations, this session included a discussion on service by a service panel. The service panel included representatives from Alternative Spring Break (an organization that uses its spring break to do community service around the country), Camp Kesem (an organization that works with the children of cancer patients), and Mobility Lab (an organization that builds wheel chairs from bicycle parts and donates them to needy people in Africa). After the three representatives finished talking about their various organizations, they later answered questions and gave advice to the students for their final projects.
After the service panel’s discussion on service, the meeting ended with a group discussion on student projects, and a variety of games.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sessions + LTI Final Project Proposals + New Members!
The past couple of weeks have been quite eventful!
One featured event at an LTI session was a blind-folded scavenger hunt. In this event, students split into teams of 3. One served as the blind-folded mover, another as the vocal director, and the final student as the silent direction giver. The silent direction giver would motion with his or her body to the vocal director, who vocalized the first student's commands to the blind-folded mover. Whichever team worked best as a team and collected the most items won the activity!
This past Sunday, March 8th, students presented their final project proposals to the LTI Board of Directors. The final project is a vital part of the LTI curriculum, in which students have the opportunity to give back to their own community in the form of an LTI-funded service project. Proposals included projects aimed at removing graffiti from public areas, implementing an invisible children awareness program, and an education play on alcohol abuse. After initial feedback, students will edit proposals and presentations in time for approved funding and the final presentations at the closing ceremony in May.
Finally, this upcoming Wednesday, March 11th is the monthly LTI General Body Meeting. At this meeting, we are welcoming our five newest executive board members! Three of our newest LTI family will be starting our Expansion committee, which aims at implementing and extending our program and connections to locations in Mexico, China, Brazil, El Salvador, and South Africa. Many updates on LTI's summer program plans to come!
Friday, February 13, 2009
SPRING 2009 LTI FIRST SESSION
A Blip from the Session
This past Sunday, February 8th, was LTI's first session. Groups of students visited the famous chalkboards in MIT's Stata Center to illustrate leaders.
In this activity, "Anatomy of a Leader," Students were asked to illustrate what characteristics, physical, mental, and personal, would make a great leaders. Our students used their creativity to the fullest.
Stata center's chalkboards are still adorned with a diverse collection of 2 dimensional leaders with interesting accessories, such as cell phones, wild hair styles, mysterious creatures, and even an open heart.
The Anatomy of a Leader allows students to brainstorm what leaders typically look like and what characteristics many of today's prominent leaders possess. The group work allows for creative brainstorming, discussion, and compromise.
Look forward to next session's program!
Note: There is no session this upcoming Sunday, February 15th due to MIT and Boston and Cambridge area school schedules.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Reflections from our trip to Mexico
Here is an excerpt from Taylor Jay, our Associate Director, who traveled down to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico in the state of Chiapas. Chiapas is actually the poorest state in Mexico, plagued with armed conflicts and poverty, but it is also the most beautiful. Taylor shares her experiences...
We do this activity in every LTI program. You’re asked to list some number of turning points in your life; decisions you made that changed the course of your life afterward. Choosing to go on this trip was without a doubt one of those decisions.I didn’t know what to expect from Mexican culture. I learned a bit of Mayan history in my high school Spanish classes, but we certainly never made it into the present day. I quickly adjusted, however, to friendly kisses on the cheek to greet in the morning, to strangers prepared to help with excellent restaurant suggestions, and to the adventures that stemmed from no one needing to ask why anything was happening, just content that it would all settle out.The staff of Casa Telmex was no exception. They were some of the nicest, most welcoming and encouraging people I’ve ever met. Each of them had a different personality, a different teaching style, but each of them shared a common passion for helping those around them and bettering themselves as well. Working there was the best experience I could have asked for and I would love to go back in the future.LTI also took on a different hue at Casa Telmex. It was unlike the spring program, of course, because we had ages ranging from 13-41 and ability levels just as broadly distributed, because we didn’t see the participants every session, but also because of the different culture. In the US, the most common problem in a group is that no one wants the responsibility of the leader; everyone is reticent to share their ideas lest they be the “wrong” answers. Here, however, almost everyone wanted to share and lead vocally. It led to some fantastic discussions and is certainly indicative of the natural leadership inclinations of those participating in the program. But, it is also something that can impede effective teamwork. So, it was really interesting to see how the activities worked with different participants. They suddenly taught different lessons than they did at home, many of which I hadn’t seen or realized before myself. It also makes me realize how much different LTI must be to serve a diverse range of communities, certainly a challenge, but one I believe now more than ever is one worth taking on. I think this program fills an even more unique niche in other parts of the world.While I certainly grew as a leader and a member of a team during the month, I think I grew more personally than in these other capacities. I had never left the country before and had a wide range of trepidations, many of implausible events like being stuck somewhere with no available bottled water or loosing a shoe on a combi. I also feared sticking out because of my appearance, not something I’ve ever experienced growing up as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner. It was something I began to no longer notice by the end of the trip, but certainly not something I’ll take for granted in the US again. I feared not being able to communicate effectively with those around me. This fear was realized many a time, whether it was in discussion with students (my worst fear) or just hanging out with the facilitators outside of work. I came up with many creative ways to express myself other than words, realizing the importance of body language, asking the right questions and preparing in advance what I wanted to say. Now that I’m back in a country full of English-speakers, I’ve been much more confident in talking with others, whether it is in front of an audience or scheduling the ever-difficult doctor’s appointment by phone. I feared not knowing what was going to happen at each moment which I was certainly forced to face. I gave up trying to have mental control over situations and just let things happen as they were going to happen. The luggage isn’t going to arrive for how long? This combi is going where? Why exactly are we in this vehicle? Why is the bus stopping by the side of the road and luggage is being extracted from the under-seat storage? All questions that I would have sought the answers to in the US, but all questions that don’t seem to need answers in Mexico. I learned to just be calm and let those in charge of the things take care of them as they need to, hopefully a lesson I can carry through life with me as well. Of course, my stomach also learned its fair share of lessons. Over the course of the 3 and a half weeks it learned to deal with ice, lettuce, grease, more spice than I knew existed and a wide variety of unknown, but delicious, foods. This was perhaps the hardest learned lesson on the trip, but it now certainly misses all those things it once was quite uneasy about.And I was so blessed to share this experience with 3.25 (since YeSeul left about a week into the trip) other MIT students. It was really interesting to get to know these remarkable people better and share with them some of the most memorable experiences of my college career. So thank you to each of you for this amazing trip.
We do this activity in every LTI program. You’re asked to list some number of turning points in your life; decisions you made that changed the course of your life afterward. Choosing to go on this trip was without a doubt one of those decisions.I didn’t know what to expect from Mexican culture. I learned a bit of Mayan history in my high school Spanish classes, but we certainly never made it into the present day. I quickly adjusted, however, to friendly kisses on the cheek to greet in the morning, to strangers prepared to help with excellent restaurant suggestions, and to the adventures that stemmed from no one needing to ask why anything was happening, just content that it would all settle out.The staff of Casa Telmex was no exception. They were some of the nicest, most welcoming and encouraging people I’ve ever met. Each of them had a different personality, a different teaching style, but each of them shared a common passion for helping those around them and bettering themselves as well. Working there was the best experience I could have asked for and I would love to go back in the future.LTI also took on a different hue at Casa Telmex. It was unlike the spring program, of course, because we had ages ranging from 13-41 and ability levels just as broadly distributed, because we didn’t see the participants every session, but also because of the different culture. In the US, the most common problem in a group is that no one wants the responsibility of the leader; everyone is reticent to share their ideas lest they be the “wrong” answers. Here, however, almost everyone wanted to share and lead vocally. It led to some fantastic discussions and is certainly indicative of the natural leadership inclinations of those participating in the program. But, it is also something that can impede effective teamwork. So, it was really interesting to see how the activities worked with different participants. They suddenly taught different lessons than they did at home, many of which I hadn’t seen or realized before myself. It also makes me realize how much different LTI must be to serve a diverse range of communities, certainly a challenge, but one I believe now more than ever is one worth taking on. I think this program fills an even more unique niche in other parts of the world.While I certainly grew as a leader and a member of a team during the month, I think I grew more personally than in these other capacities. I had never left the country before and had a wide range of trepidations, many of implausible events like being stuck somewhere with no available bottled water or loosing a shoe on a combi. I also feared sticking out because of my appearance, not something I’ve ever experienced growing up as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner. It was something I began to no longer notice by the end of the trip, but certainly not something I’ll take for granted in the US again. I feared not being able to communicate effectively with those around me. This fear was realized many a time, whether it was in discussion with students (my worst fear) or just hanging out with the facilitators outside of work. I came up with many creative ways to express myself other than words, realizing the importance of body language, asking the right questions and preparing in advance what I wanted to say. Now that I’m back in a country full of English-speakers, I’ve been much more confident in talking with others, whether it is in front of an audience or scheduling the ever-difficult doctor’s appointment by phone. I feared not knowing what was going to happen at each moment which I was certainly forced to face. I gave up trying to have mental control over situations and just let things happen as they were going to happen. The luggage isn’t going to arrive for how long? This combi is going where? Why exactly are we in this vehicle? Why is the bus stopping by the side of the road and luggage is being extracted from the under-seat storage? All questions that I would have sought the answers to in the US, but all questions that don’t seem to need answers in Mexico. I learned to just be calm and let those in charge of the things take care of them as they need to, hopefully a lesson I can carry through life with me as well. Of course, my stomach also learned its fair share of lessons. Over the course of the 3 and a half weeks it learned to deal with ice, lettuce, grease, more spice than I knew existed and a wide variety of unknown, but delicious, foods. This was perhaps the hardest learned lesson on the trip, but it now certainly misses all those things it once was quite uneasy about.And I was so blessed to share this experience with 3.25 (since YeSeul left about a week into the trip) other MIT students. It was really interesting to get to know these remarkable people better and share with them some of the most memorable experiences of my college career. So thank you to each of you for this amazing trip.
Monday, February 2, 2009
LTI Opening Ceremony
This past Sunday, February 1st 2009 was the second annual Leadership Training Institute Opening Ceremony!
We had 10 attending students and many family and friends!
The ceremony started with opening remarks by LTI Director Amanda Mok and followed by a brief introduction of the curriculum by LTI Associate director Taylor Jay.
Socializing and lunch followed.
LTI students and their guests then split for separate activities. While the students teams raced in a leadership scavenger hunt, their family and friends got to know each other with a game of splat and paper tower building.
The ceremony closed with reflections.
From the LTI staff community, we are excited to get to know the students and their families even better as the semester continues. See you soon!
*Reminder: The first LTI session will be this upcoming Sunday February 8th from 12:oo noon to 4:00 pm in MIT room 4-149. Lunch is provided for every session.
Please arrive 15 minutes before start time, as the MIT campus is difficult to navigate.
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