Dinner With Our Alumni: jersey123456

Hello all! Happy Tuesday! I am excited to announce a new mid-week dinner! For those that don't know, Dinner With Our Alumni is a series of small interviews that I conduct with 7 Cups Academy alumni to know more about their journey in the program - this post is dedicated to the Leadership Development Program! The aim is to spread more awareness about the program and hope everyone gives it a read!

Today, we have @jersey123456! Jersey has been a part of 7 Cups for over 2 years now. They are an Academy Mentor for the CDM program and they truly enjoy the role. They joined cups to make a small difference, to remind people that there's always a rainbow after the rain. Perhaps, a person alone cannot make a big difference, but one can always contribute to that big difference. They truly believe that their purpose to be on 7 Cups is to extend a hand towards those who think that they're alone. The world might seem big, but in actuality it's small and everyone is going through something - let's be kind to us and others and help in making the world a better place one small difference at a time. Outside of Cups, Jersey a freshman studying computer and date science engineering (Wow, smaaaaart!). They absolutely LOVE reading, writing, watching anime and series (currently obsessed with k-dramas), listening to music (read Taylor Swift haha) and movies. During the pandemic, one of their favorite hobbies was to hop on Youtube and try to cook any random recipe.

What was on dinner? So much - I had food coma! Pizza, wonton, noodles, blueberry cheesecake and Stracciatella ice cream and black coffee with a hint of vanilla essence. We could've gone further, but our foodie alert kicked in!

So without further ado, here's Jersey:

What made you join the LDP program?

I was mostly looking to broaden my horizons and I enjoy doing courses in my free time. Leadership is really an important trait to develop, and I thought LDP would be the perfect way to develop leadership qualities (spoiler alert: it indeed was the perfect way!).

How was your experience doing the coursework?

The coursework was so interesting and informative. I learned about myself and so many new things altogether. The coursework made me think so much about what it means to become a true leader and changed a lot of my preconceived notions. I think the most important part was that I had lots of fun and enjoyed while I learnt!

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

Yes, the first document had all the links and it made navigation easy. I also kept in check with which coursework I was doing and what was already done. So navigation was super super easy! Cookies for the LDP Team!

How did you dedicate your time to doing the coursework?

There were times when I did some of the coursework at a stretch which helped me focus, then took some breaks and repeated. For big courseworks, I divided into smaller bits, which made it easier to work on.

Which course did you like the most? And why?

My favorites would be course 1 - it was so insightful learning more about myself , more specifically the big 5 and the quizzes. I didn't know about these until I did LDP. The coursework also helped me think a lot about certain situations in general and helped me understand better about certain things.

Another favorite would be course 4 - it really made me think about the definition of leader in general and what being a leader mean to me. It's also where a lot of my perceptions changed, so I had fun understanding and thinking about what the word 'leader' truly entails.

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

I became an Academy Mentor for CDM program and it has been such a memorable and learning experience for me. I really enjoy performing my responsibilities and I'm learning new things everyday! Shoutout to the CDM team <3333

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

Have fun and enjoy what you're doing! There's a quote that says, "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life," and I believe it can also be applied here, just enjoy the program, take it at your own pace and don't forget to take breaks, and if you get stuck, reach out to the mentors. They are always there to help you out. Good luck to all the current trainees! You're amazing!

What can we do to make the program better?

LDP is perfect the way it is. Thank you to the entire LDP Team for making this intricately well designed informative and interesting program and for always having our backs throughout the program! Huge shoutout to the LDP Team!!!! Appreciate y'all so much ❤🤗

Thank you for reading till here! This was an absolutely delightful interview to do and read over and over again. 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! Meanwhile, please give a big shout-out to @jersey123456 for doing this, you're amazing!

If you want to apply for the LDP, please click here.