Personal Development at Forward College: a student perspective
When somebody asks, “What is unique about Forward College?”, one of the first things that comes to mind is Personal Development. The follow-up question, which asks for an expansion of the concept, is always harder to answer. We tried to do just that with Amelie Josten, a second-year Politics and IR student living in Paris, who shared her experience with the PD course over the past years.
1. How would you describe the Personal Development module to someone who has never experienced it?
The module is different from class to class but it is a very personal and social module that involves a lot of opening up and confronting your world views (if you feel comfortable with it). It makes you reflect on your actions and how you perceive others and I found it helped me with rationalizing communication patterns.
2. In what ways has Personal Development supported you in your academic journey so far?
I think that in certain ways the course helped me with managing my workload and stress but also with separating between what I feel and perceive in contrast to what might have been intended or (mis)communicated. As I took the challenge of opening up to my peers and tried not to shy away from it, it helped with clarifying things that were jumbled in my head before and it helped me when it came to resilience and stress management (actually the name of the module right now!).
3. Can you share a specific activity, discussion, or topic from the module that has had a lasting impact on you?
In one of the modules on emotional intelligence we did an exercise where we had to give everyone in the room words of appreciation and read it out loud. Since everyone knows each other it became a very emotional and vulnerable experience, and several people (including me) cried because of its impact. It was a very impactful activity that stayed with me until now, I think that it is sometimes important in moments of insecurity or stress to be reminded of the positive impact everyone has without even noticing.
4. How do you feel the module is preparing you for your future career? Are there any skills or mindsets you believe will be particularly valuable in the workplace?
I think especially the fostering of team building activities and the social intelligence in understanding others’ needs, feeling and communicating those effectively are things that help with being able to both lead but also be part of a team in the future, something that I believe to be extremely valuable for the workplace.
I believe that the emotional intelligence module has helped me understand myself better but also give me more grace. The introspection that was encouraged in the module really made me confront myself but also see myself through other people’s eyes and it put everything more into perspective. That is what helped me give myself more grace in tough situations of high stress and also helped me understand others in situations of conflict.
6. How does Year Two build on or differ from Year One in Personal Development?
Because the fellows are different, the understanding and implementation of the module also differs. Year one was much more focused on social interaction and ways of communication with others, while year two had much more introspection and was about how we individually deal with stress, but also self awareness and who we are in a community.
