3. Learning Outcomes
• By completing the activities in this
program, Dons will be able to
demonstrate the versatility of their skills
learned in Residence Life
• At the end of the session Dons will be
able to draw parallels between their
role as a Don and their future role as a
professional
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16. World Café
• What skills do you practice most often as a Don?
• What skills have brought you success as a Don?
• What are your favorite activities to do as a Don?
• Where do you see yourself in the future?
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23. Requirement/Skill
for Job
Parallel to
Residence Life
• Exercise discretion and
independent judgement
• Strong communication in
written and spoken English
• Excellent time management
skills
• Work under pressure, tight
deadlines, pay attention to
detail
• Development of colleagues
• Strong problem solving skills 23
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Good morning!
I want to thank you all for being here today and sharing your time with me. Before we get started, I would like to hear from you what you call your roles within your residence buildings. ….. At York we call these positions Dons, so you will hear me say Don but it is interchangeable with the titles you all hold.
Later on I will need some actors for an activity, is there anyone who would like to volunteer now?
My name is Erica, and I have spent the last 4 years at York University, working towards my degree in Psychology and Health Management and am now in my second year as a Don. Back in November, it really hit me that my graduation was approaching. Well, now its January and I still don’t know exactly what my plan is for when I’m done school in April. But as I was spending time thinking about this conference, I thought, maybe coming here could be a great way to hear about options of what you all think you want to do in your future. Then it crossed my mind that if I don’t know exactly what I want to do, I’m probably not alone.
I do know something for sure. I know that Donship has given me the best 2 years of my life. I wanted to come here today to work with you in harnessing the momentum we have created by working in Residence Life and use it to drive ourselves into our futures.
This elevator you see here will be reoccurring today in various points of the session. You may be wondering, why an elevator?
Well, I want you to imagine a scene with me. You are a recent graduate, looking desperately for your next job. You get into this elevator and notice that you're standing next to someone important. (Go through slides).
Or anyone else important to you. And they're heading to the top of the building - lets say the 40th floor.
If your conversation inside this elevator is interesting and value adding, the conversation will continue after the elevator ride or end in exchange of a business card or a scheduled meeting.
Right now, the doors have just closed and you are about to begin your ride to the top.
You have 2 minutes to tell them who you are and what you know.
What are you going to say?
My immediate response would be; Hi my name is Erica and I would be a great employee at your company because I was a Don!
But if your elevator partner doesn’t know what a Don is, or what Dons are capable of doing then that line doesn’t work well for you.
So over the next 40 minutes, we are going to practice transitioning the statement, “I was a Don” to a description of how much you know and what you can do.
I am going to start off today by introducing the idea that being a Don has changed you. When you approached this role, there was probably a lot of excitement about your new duties. You chose to apply for a job that required a lot from you; your time, your creativity, energy and of course an ability to continuously learn and develop. Throughout your Don life you have been changed into an improved version of the person you were beforehand.
When you began your role as a Don, maybe it looked more like this (the to-do list); with specific tasks needing to be completed. But as time goes on, you will notice a transformation. The requirements of your job will align with who you are naturally and being a Don will become an internalized role of yours.
On that note, I am sure that many of us here would agree that once you become a Don, you can never really stop being a Don.
You start to become your friends Don, your families Don, your partners Don and eventually you move on to being a Don to people who don't even know what a Don is. You essentially live and breathe as a Don in all aspects of your life, because the person you’ve become is someone your proud of- someone you really identify with.
We are all here this weekend because of the very fact that we are Dons, but I would like to know more about you specifically.
Im interested to hear; how many of you here have been a Don for 1 year? 2 years? More?
What do you love most about being a Don?
Perfect - We are going to begin an activity that will require you to think back and reflect on your experience as a Don.
Using the following questions, we are going to participate in a world cafe. You are asked to think back and reflect on your entire experience as a Don.
The goal of this activity is to acknowledge the skills that have become familiar to you through being a Don, as well as start to think about where you see yourself in the future.
You are encouraged to spend the next 10 minutes sharing your thoughts with your peers while you answer these questions.
Please walk around the room and add your thoughts to the following papers.
As well, feel free to highlight, circle, star, any of the words your colleagues have written down that you agree with.
Well, today I want to show you that the time, effort and practice you have put into being the best Don you can be has left you ready and well prepared for the life you will face when you're ready to begin the next stage of your life.
We should embrace the reality that you might always fall back onto Don practices or skills in the next stages of your life.
Keeping in mind some of the skills you have written down, I am going to show you a few job descriptions and requirements that will show you that you possess the skills necessary to get out there and feel prepared for your next job.
Last Slide ask for volunteers to offer skills they see as ones we have already been practicing as Dons.
Staples Sales Manager
Elementary School Teacher – Job Description
Head Gardener, Fairmont Hotels
Talent Acquisition Manager, Financial Advisor Talent Acquisition
Ask people to read out any skills or responsibilities that are similar to ones we already possess.
On the left side of this chart I compiled some of the skills and requirements needed for the jobs we just reviewed together. Now, can anyone offer what you could draw on as a parallel between this skill and how you are already practicing it as a Don?
This chart is in your handout, if you would like to fill it in as we go along.
Here we can see that there are lots of parallels we are able to draw between our experience in residence life to skills that are expected of us in our futures.
Lets move forwards with our elevator ride. You just highlighted areas that you excel at (read some) and areas that have brought you success in your roles (read some).
Right now you are halfway to the top.
You can use this opportunity to tell your elevator partner about the skills you have.
I am a strong leader, I have worked extensively with teams, I have the ability to plan inclusive programs, I can present in front of a group of individuals.
Does anyone want to offer a skill of yours that you would tell your elevator partner?
You have probably practiced some of these hundreds of times.
These are your skills, and you have earned the right to take ownership of them.
We began with discussing our skills because they are the base of everything that we have built off of as Dons. Working in Residence buildings means that we are involved in a lot of different events and scenarios. Regardless of the number of years you have worked as a Don, you know by now that there is always an element of unpredictability in every scenario we face. You approach things feeling prepared and well trained, but the truth is that there is nothing like experiencing the scenario that teaches us how to handle ourselves like being in the situation does.
This is where acknowledging experiential learning is crucial to our drive forward.
I want you to know that your experiences as a Don offer you unlimited opportunities for growth; whether its within your teams, your relationships with residents or event planning – you are always developing yourselves and your abilities. Of course these experiences can seem intimidating at first; your first duty call to a big res party, or your role in a conflict mediation. But you have undoubtedly learned that you are capable of much more than you might think you are. Through your experiences you can see that in these moments you chose to rise up, face the challenge and do your best.
That “blah” 12am noise complaint call has the ability to become that “aha” moment where you realize you can effectively manage and deal with a rowdy crowd. As we continue to drive forward into our futures, you need to pull these experiences with you; they are what set you apart from your peers.
We need work together to align our perspectives in order to recognize that these are rare experiences for people our age.
Up to this point we have spent our time reflecting into our experiences as Dons with the purpose of collecting the momentum you have created within residence life; your skills and experiences. Right now I want you to imagine your momentum as the bottom of this ball (picture). Each one of you has this ball of momentum within you; you have been generating it yourselves even before we met today. Together we have harnessed this momentum so that you can find a way to let it burst and become something beautiful.
We are going to step into new territory and work at applying the skills we are confident in to scenarios we may not be as familiar with.
Remember, before you were the amazing Don you are now, you probably had some doubts about the skills that were being asked of you. Whether it was public speaking, time management, or working in groups; all it took was a little bit of practice and support you to make you feel confident in your abilities.
Activity 2: “Donning” Your Future
The goal of this activity is to apply the skills and experiences created from Residence Life to scenarios you may encounter in your future.
For this activity, you are going to be each others practice and support, so that in this room you can gain the confidence you need to propel yourself into the next stage of your life.
I will need an actor, who will be leading the scenario and a responder, who will be responding to the actor. In each scenario their will be predetermined skills for the responder to use while dealing with their issue. At the end of the scene, I am going to ask the audience to draw a parallel between their experience as a Don to this scenario.
Lets go back to this image for a minute to revisit our elevator ride.
You are nearing the top of the building and you've got a limited amount of time left.
Now is your opportunity to tell your elevator partner how you are going to apply your skills in a way that will be meaningful and impactful to them.
Making statements like such;
I am a strong leader who will be able to create an inclusive work environment at your company.
My experience working in teams will result in me being able to motivate my colleagues to work harder.
Does anyone have a statement they would like to share with us based on a skill you identify with?
These statements prove that you have the skills within you and the ability to apply them to various situations to further yourselves in your future.
Now I want you to imagine that this elevator scene is not only in your imagination; that it is real and it’s happening to you right now.
You’ve stepped into this elevator, seen your elevator partner and paused to think about our reflection today.
Do you know what you're going to say?
Maybe your pitch needs a little bit of tweeking and practicing. No worries, your experience as a Don has prepared you for this moment!
You’ve got this, you’re ready.
You now have the ability to make your pitch about the way you will use Residence Life to help you succeed in your future, without having to explain to someone what a Don is. Residence Life has helped you create a ball of momentum that is stronger, brighter and more powerful than many other individuals our age; it is time that we unleash our momentum so that we can continue to soar.
You shouldn’t expect yourself to have every detail of your elevator pitch worked out today. But I do want to emphasize the importance of you thinking about this scenario so that you can prepare yourself for your elevator ride.
At this point, you might all be wondering about your future plans. What are you going to do? What are you going to be? How will you get there?
Unfortunately I don’t have those answers for you. I do have a suggestion though. You have spent this past 40 minutes reflecting about the versatility of your skill set and the direction you may want to be heading in the future.
After this weekend you can start your preparation for your drive into the future by taking small steps every day.
Next is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. As a member, you create a profile for yourself and fill in information such as; your interests, projects you have worked on, what school you study at, courses you have taken. You also want to fill in your past work experiences and any volunteer work you have done. LinkedIn is essentially your online resume; available to your connections and potential employers.
We begin with Linkedin because it is the perfect place for you to update your experiences to include a description of your role in Residence Life. You even have the option to include programs you have run in your building so that your profile reflects your role in Residence Life.
So here is the plan.
Tonight when you go home, take what you have worked out as your elevator pitch and put that into your LinkedIn profile summary. Having a description of your journey that reflects learning and experiences will show people who you are and what you know.
It will also give your elevator partner the chance to refer to your profile when they have more time and learn more about you.
If you have not already, connect on LinkedIn with all of your co-dons, and then endorse your colleagues for the skills that they have demonstrated time and time again. We see each other display these skills regularly within our roles, so we should be giving ourselves and co-workers the recognition for their personal and professional development.
When we endorse each other we make it visible to the world that we are champions at what we do.
Whats up with this rubiks cube? And the ones you all have in front of you?
Well, we’re going to wrap up today with a little symbolism.
The rubiks cube is apparently a well liked game; I, however, have never found it to be one I’ve had fun doing.
The rubiks cube has 6 faces, each with a different colour, and as you twist the cube around the goal is for you to end up with all 9 squares of the same colour on one side, so that eventually each side has only one solid colour on it. Well this is complex, there are lots of ways you can twist the squares around and there is no guarantee that if you get one side complete the rest will fall into place.
Today, im leaving you with the image of a rubiks cube as a way for you imagine each face of the cube as being any single aspect of your role as a Don; your duties, your skills, your relationships or your experiences. Go ahead and write down the first 6 things that come to mind when you think of your role as a Don. (on the handout)
You can see that when you began your role as a Don, maybe each side was separate and distinct (Show a new cube) . A visual representation would essentially be an untouched rubiks cube.
But while you develop as individuals within your roles, your sides are blending together (twist cube while speaking). You begin to learn that when you combine your qualities you can focus them on any task and be extremely successful.
Go ahead; I encourage you to twist your rubiks cube a few times with me.
Watch as the 6 things you wrote down for each colour blend together.
While you twist, lets revisit your future plans.
Create a place in your mind where you see yourself tackling new challenges and trying new things; just as being a Don once seemed to be.
Now look at your cube and notice the mosaic of colours on one side.
When you start to face new challenges, sometimes you will need a little bit everything; a past experience, a little bit of responsibility and maybe a few skills. The distribution of your experience in Residence Life will undoubtably be the foundation upon which you realize that these next challenges are manageable.
Now, if you’re worried about solving your rubiks cube after all of this twisting; don’t!
Every twist is creating a visual representation of who you are and what you know.
Embrace the mosaic; you are extremely powerful like this.
Residence Life will always hold a special place in all of our hearts; for some of us its become a job that we might never want to leave.
These illusive future plans will one day become your reality. Whether it is an entry level position, maybe its seeing your own talent get realized, or a dream job; your futures will be bright.
But today I wanted to inspire you, because you deserve to know that you are special and unique individuals. Your futures, like a sunset, will be beautiful and memorable. You will capture the attention of others who admire you for all that you do.
Your ability to drive, and drive hard, forward into your future has begun today.
I am going to ask for your participation on one last thing today. I would like for you to repeat this phrase with me so that you will always remember the importance of your experience in Residence Life. (read slide phrase)
