Move-in: August 19, 2024
Jump Start: August 20, 2024
Willamette University is proud to partner with LeaderShape to bring a dynamic pre-orientation program to new students on the Salem campus. This program is focused on learning to develop your own authentic path, connect to groups and causes you care about, and commit to a plan to be a catalyst for yourself and the groups you’re part of. Begin before the beginning and start something extraordinary!
You’ll consider powerful questions that move you towards action: Who do I want to be? How can I connect with others? What path might I take for a fulfilling future?
In small-group dialogue, large group interaction, and personal reflection, you’ll learn alongside others who also want to Jump Start their leadership.
Contact jumpstart-reg@willamette.edu with any questions
- Program Details
Registration fee: $195.00 for all program materials and meals
Financial aid is available; please indicate your interest in aid when you register
Key dates:
- June 7th: Registration opens
- June 17th: Priority registration deadline for students interested in financial aid
- By June 28th: Notification of financial aid and deposit due
- July 26th: Last day to cancel your registration and receive a partial refund
- July 31st: Balance of registration fee due
- Schedule
Monday, August 19
- 10:00 am - 2:00 pm: Move-In/Pick up residence hall key
- 4:00 pm: Welcome & schedule overview
- 5:00 pm: Dinner with LeaderShape participants & campus staff
- 6:15 pm: Group activities
Tuesday, August 20
- 9:30-9:45: Registration
- 9:45-10:15: Get Connected
- ...to the Learning Community
- ...to the Experience
- 10:15-11:45: Your Origin Story
- My Story So Far
- Manual Prompts and Comic Book Cover
- Active Listening
- Authenticity
- Label Activity
- Leadership
- Line Up Activity
- Leadership Has Many Stories
- 11:45-12:30: Lunch
- 12:30-2:00: Your Characters and Point of View
- Your Characters
- Vital Friends Activity
- 2 by 4 Activity
- Point of View and Perspective
- Zoom Activity
- 2:00-2:15: Break
- 2:15-3:45: Your Next Chapter
- Be a Catalyst for Yourself
- Atomic Habits
- What Am I Passionate About?
- Passion Prompts
- My Future Leadership Story
- Communicating My Story (TikTok Video)
- Maze Squares Activity
- 3:45-4:00: Wrapping Up
- Be a Catalyst
- Evaluations
- Catalyst
noun cat·a·lyst \ˈka-tə-ləst\
an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action
Catalyst is a one-day program designed for anyone who is interested in starting something extraordinary. Participating in Catalyst is a first step in the life-long process of learning, exploration, and action.
This program is designed to allow participants the time and space to connect with others and engage in learning more about their own story of leadership. They will explore questions like: Who do I want to be? What is my story? Am I being the person I want to be? What are the causes and communities I care most about and how can I contribute? This day may not provide participants the answers to these questions, but rather create a community in which participants can engage in meaningful conversations with each other and start exploring these questions.
Throughout the day, participants will identify their strengths as well as recognize the strengths of the members in their community. They will discuss how these contributions can move them to action.
While appropriate for a variety of participants, Catalyst has been designed primarily for individuals who are open to the exploration of authenticity, connection, and commitment while increasing their capacity to lead. They might currently be members of standing organizations or groups or be exploring involvement and action in the greater community.
The content of the program is designed to meet the multiple learning styles of each group. Participants will be engaged in small group dialogue, large group interaction, and personal reflection. The content of this day will push participants to get real with themselves. At the end of this experience, participants will leave compelled to start a new habit, to persist, and to live in possibility.
- Program Takeaways
Catalyst is a day that is designed to meet participants where they are as they explore their leadership potential. The curriculum will do that in the following ways:
Engage in learning. Showing up is only one aspect of participating. Participants will challenge themselves to do something different to help their learning. If they are often the one speaking up, we will encourage them listen more. If they tend to wait before engaging, we’ll encourage them to jump right in the middle and take a risk. Bottom line, we do not want them to wait for learning to happen. Catalyst will be about taking ownership of their learning and what they can accomplish in community.
Connect with ideas and people. Participants will have time to get to know other people and listen to their thoughts. It is rare to have the space to connect with other people and what they truly care about in the world. The Catalyst curriculum creates a community that welcomes that opportunity.
Craft their story. Where have you been? Who are you? What labels have you adopted that help tell your story? We are constantly writing our life’s story. We will take some time to think about what stories participants have learned along the way and how they have developed. When we tell our story, we allow others to see us in a different way. We also make it a little easier for them to tell their story. Let’s have courage and be brave together to share stories and listen to the stories of others.
Expand their perspective. If you continue to do what you have always done, you can’t really expect different results. Catalyst will challenge participants to think out of the box. Ask “why” more often. Quietly reflect on their choices and the path they have taken so far … and then look farther. We do not know everything we think we know. Catalyst will encourage participants to engage curiosity and remain open to a different way of seeing the world.
- Learning Goals
Your Origin Story
- Explore what it means to choose your own authentic path.
Your Characters and Point of View
- Understand how you best connect and contribute to the groups and causes you care about.
Your Next Chapter
- Commit to a plan to be a catalyst for yourself and the groups or communities you are a part of.