The Retreat will be your first opportunity to meet other 3rd and 4th year first generation students who, like you, are interested in leadership and planning for their future. You will also interact with a small group facilitator who will act as a retreat mentor for you. The small group facilitator is a UF Faculty or Staff member interested in your development as a leader.
Strengths Quest Sessions
A key component of leadership is self-awareness and understanding. After taking the online assessment, consisting of 140 questions, you will learn about what you do best – your natural talents! By learning about yourself in this way, you’ll learn how to articulate your natural talents in an interview setting as well as on your resume.
Life Coaching
It’s important to have a guide in the transition-out process (leaving college and preparing for life after college). You’ll have access to trained administrators and UF graduate students who are very interested in helping you develop a plan for your life after college.
These life coaches will be available to you throughout the year and you’re encouraged to meet with them at least three times.
Activities and Workshops
You’re a 3rd or 4th year student and it’s time to start honing your skills to be successful as a college graduate. Past workshops have included long-term financial planning, interviewing skills, writing personal statements for graduate school, and etiquette dinners (so which fork do I use when?), etc. These are designed to meet your needs and help you feel ready to tackle life after college!
Summer Experience
After learning about leadership during the Spring semester, you’ll craft a summer experience that’ll allow you to practice what you’ve learned. Past participants have interned, studied abroad, completed extensive service, and/or participated in LeadUF– a UF leadership retreat.
Summer Symposium
A large part of many interview processes for graduate school and/or post-college employment involves a presentation. The summer symposium is designed to give you experience presenting to your peers and UF faculty/administrators. You’ll be paired with an FOS Academy of Leadership partner to craft a 25 min presentation about your summer experience. The symposium takes place early in the fall semester.
Reflection Blog
As you know, learning and growth happens in many ways. FOS Academy of Leadership students are strongly encouraged to keep a journal/blog about your experiences in these final years as a UF student. After each activity, students will post a reflection to the e-Learning site as well as receive feedback about their reflection.
Final Banquet
Participate in the FOS Academy of Leadership retreat, a minimum of 6 FOS Academy of Leadership activities, post 6 reflections about those activities, attend and present at Summer Symposium and you’ll be invited to our final banquet in November. This will be your official “graduation” from the FOS Academy of Leadership program. You’ll receive a special token to be worn at graduation and you’ll also have the opportunity to meet key individuals on campus who are invested in your success.
Letters of Recommendation
We realize it can be challenging for some to develop lasting relationships with faculty members and administrators. Through the FOS Academy of Leadership program, you will have the opportunity to develop mentoring relationships with a variety of campus administrators and staff. While this should not be the sole reason you participate with the program, there is a likelihood you’ll be able to ask for letters of recommendation from the people you meet during this experience.