I have taken on some leadership roles on campus and organized several campus events since I got here. I am still actively involved with volunteering organizations (Habitat, Circle K). While doing that, I realized the influences Up with People had on me. Instead of planning, I push idea through into action. This was especially useful in organizing activities, trips for student body. I am also a lot more flexible and when facing a problem, I am more solution focus and realistic looking at options instead of saying "It can not be done." Also, sometimes all we need to do is ask and many things could be resolved.

Most importantly, I appreciate my life way more than before because I have done so much, see much more than people my age. Unbelievable experience and memories. If you are interested, look at my photographer website at: http://public.fotki.com/windskyrider/ to get a peak at the fantastic things I was able to do.

Sometimes it is really all about perspective and how we look at our life. Up with People certainly has taught me that.

Jeff Cast A06

Public Home | Chien-Fu (Jeff) Lin Photography | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Feedback from teachers show that it has been always a good experience for the students as well. A particularly interesting point they mention, is how we always try to engage all the students in the class. I stopped a moment to think about that and I will now share with you some of the tips I and some of my friends use to keep the students engaged during the whole time.

1. Learn Together

During my Up with People experience I had a break through teaching experience. I was lucky enough to do one of our projects called Stand for Peace (where we would teach the values of tolerance and diversity for K-12 students all over the USA) with our education manager at the time, Chris Miller. From this day I learned from his fantastic skills that the most important thing is not to be able to teach, is to be able to facilitate the “learning together” process!

He would never give up answers, just ask more questions building up step by step the tools to help us get to an answer.

This make such a difference! Because we were all part of the learning process: we build up the logic, the feelings and the creativity to find what we are looking for… it all just make much more sense.

2. Outsiders advantage!

Bringing someone from outside allow the students and even the teachers to address subjects that are normally too tricky for a teacher during regular classes. When we go to schools not judging anyone, we are opening up a new channel to students to communicate. It is different from their normal patterns and give them a different opportunity… and we will not give them grades in the end.

I remember many examples of issues that came up, specially on the workshops we prepared for team building and conflict resolution workshops with international students.

One time a girl confessed: “I will never date anyone from a different culture because man are just not as polite as the ones from my country”… the immediate answer she received from a another boy was: “I have never seen you making any effort to meet someone from a different culture, maybe that’s why!”

Or the time we discussed in Germany about a very tricky subject regarding Turkish immigrants, very harsh on a boy Turkish descendent. We had the chance to discuss a bit more the immigration issues and give voice to everybody… many hidden opinions were put it out and the class start a vivid discussion on a typical “let’s not talk too much” subject. We had to use a old tool of conflict resolution: “So… how do you guys see the way to solve this immigration issue?”, if the government is too blamed I like to bring back to their own classroom level… “How do you guys, here, can contribute to make it better?”. Outcomes are always great when you give the entire classroom a chance to work as a team on a problem that truly belongs to their reality.

Those are examples of how we can get them sharing things that are really important for them just for being there to listen without judging what they will say.

3. Be there with them, equal to equal, having fun. Be enthusiastic and be real!

I love that I can just enter a classroom and know I will learn something new and meet superb new people. I like it so much that there is no way to not be enthusiastic. The facilitator gives the pace and the mood of the workshops… this is very important! But you are not there because you are better or because you have more answers, you are there because you had some other experiences that allowed you to facilitate a workshop. I really took that chance to learn something new and to help them to learn how much they can learn from each other.

Here are some personal things I find out: When you listen to what they want to say, they will listen more to what the other have to say as well. When you don’t underestimate or lecture them, they will have no reason to be against you or against the others. When you are really enjoying it, they will be more open to share and enjoy the day as well.

4. Adapt to audiences but don’t change your personality.

Every class is different; with a few questions and one or two ice breaker activities you can already feel the class and the people. Adapt the speed and the next activities you will do but don’t try to change the way you are… being real is the best way to build trust with the audience.

Here are some general things I like to do when I spot some situations: Some students like to be cooler than the others, I like to make fun with them to not let them take over, as they usually like to do, I also involve more people on the joke (we can just do that because we are outsiders!). Some like to participate in everything, it’s great to use them to keep the speed up, but I love to ask people to speak, I like to set the pace already from the beginning showing that I will ask everybody to speak all the time. Some classes will be very shy, split them in smaller groups to help them to open up and share more as well as to help you to gain their trust. If they want to speak their own language, encourage them, but also ask people to help you to understand.

And you? What do you do to keep students engaged? Many of us had the chance to facilitate workshops or being in front of an audience… What are your best practices?

I hope you enjoyed and that teachers are more and more encouraged to organize different activities… take the opportunities that come from outside of the school as well, this can add valuable contribution to the curriculum!

Many greetings! A plus!

Leo

During my Up with People experience, through all the different aspects of the program I had the opportunity to learn a lot! About others, about the world in general and the different issues it is going through. I learned a lot about myself and these experiences really made me aware of all the things I was capable of doing.

International group: I travelled with very poor English; indeed I barely understood half of what was happening the first two months of the tour. And believe it or not, I had a great time even not talking much. And above all I became expert in body language! Moreover, travelling with such a diverse group made me aware of cultural differences. Sometimes it was even challenging just to say “hi” to someone because you are used to kiss on the cheek but that your Japanese friend is used to bend or your American friend is hugging you while it has only been 2 days you know each other. Anyway, so you start thinking of every move you make to not step on the other’s culture. It is very interesting and specially a lot of fun!

Travelling: Moving cities to cities, host families to host families is an amazing experience and it definitely taught me to adjust and adapt myself everywhere I go. Imagine living one week with a Thai host family that do not speak a word of English, eat sticky rice and chicken for breakfast and have for shower a bucket and a water tank and the other week staying with a wealthy American family living in Bangkok.

Volunteer work:

Building houses for some families in New Orleans, taking care of orphans in Chang Mai, Thailand, leading conflicts resolution workshops in American schools, performing in front of a retirement house in Belgium…

The diversity of volunteer work we did all over the world taught me a lot and some days pushed me out of my comfort zone. But most of all, it made me realize that we don’t always need to do big things to have an impact on people’s life. Of course there is a difference between spending an afternoon with a wonderful 80 years old Lili from Belgium, playing cards and talking about life and helping building a house in Chattahoochee valley for a family. But at the end, a smile or a day spent with someone can have as a strong impact as a week spent building a house of an underprivileged family; and for everybody. I still remember the beautiful smile of Lili. Indeed, I may have had a little impact on some of the people I met but I have definitely been impacted by many of them. Yes you GIVE, but you RECEIVE much more. And that’s what I love about it!

Education: During the tour, you have the opportunities to do internships with the staff. I had the chance to do an admission internship in the States where I had to speak up in front of 100 students of my ages in different schools to talk about the program. And at that time my English was still miserable. And I left 2 weeks ahead of the Cast to go help the preparation of the city Bremen in Germany; we were looking for host families, selling tickets for the show, contacting school… It was quite a challenge but it definitely helped me get more confident in myself!

Furthermore, throughout our travels we are confronted to all kind of realities; the poverty in the Thai slum in Bangkok, the struggle of some American tribes to preserve t heir traditions and ways of living in southwest of the United States. Did you know that some of the families that were affected by Katrina still don’t have a home and are living in a trailer? These experiences made me aware of many things and made me change my vision of seeing things and thinking about the world and the different issues we still struggle with today.

Show: The show is a just one aspect of the program but in my opinion it is really indispensable. It’s a way of finishing the week wrapping up what we did, talk to the community we stayed about their own association and a way to thanks everyone that help us in the city. And on a personal point of view, singing a solo in front of 2 000 people just made me want to “pee in your pants” at first but it end up giving me more confidence.

Take time to learn from others

Even though Up with People is a very intense program, I learned to take time with the people I meet; the host families that welcome us in their homes during the whole trip, with the members of the Cast, with the people of the community, with each person that I met on my way. There is so much to learn from each one of us!

I truly believe that sometimes we need to step back and TAKE TIME, take time TO OBSERVE, take time TO LISTEN, and above everything time take TO LEARN FROM OTHERS.

If I had to conclude my Up with People experience, I would say I have never learned that much in such a short time!! After the 6 months, they gave me the opportunity to work for the program for a year as coordinator of different cities; I got to travel in many different places (Mexico, the Philippines…). I met amazing people, amazing friends and an amazing boyfriend. I made great contacts all over the world and in many ways it helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I definitely think I wouldn’t be the same person today if I hadn’t travel with Up with People.

When we arrived to the school we started out with a presentation and short workshop for students in grade 1 and 2. It was great to be able to meet and work with the students! We met some of the students from these classes again while facilitating an info booth in the centre of the school.

The other group of students we met was some of the graduating students in grade 3. We did a presentation and then started with the workshop. We taught the graduating class an Up with People show number called stomp, and the students learned really fast! It was so much fun to work with all the students in the different classes! A nice suprise was that in one of the breaks we got a tour of the city and the surroundings! We got to see the city, the ocean and nearby villages with beautiful landscapes. Overall it was a super great day and we hope to come back again in the fall!

Maria!

Maria and Jeremiah

Maria traveled Cast C 2007 and then back to the road as Music Coordinator for Cast A08. Besides her teaching job, she has been free-lancing as recruiter to the Europe team since last year. She is married with another UWP Alumnus, Jeremiah. Both together rock out schools with their wonderful presentations and workshops about Up with People.

…until we’ve just done it! (Cast B 2009… Sing our Song!)

We’ve just collected some of the answers for our challenge! Let’s keep it going!

@Clint Smith: Helped anything go viral…..until now

@ Janet Hardin: I have never jumped out of an airplane at 20,000 feet.

@ Paula Eronen: I have never communicated literally only with signs… until my cast visited a school for deaf children

And you? What have you never …until…?

(See the original post here..)

Isaline

Hey guys!

What’s up?  Since 3 months I’ve been working in the Up with People’s European admissions team and it has been such a great experience!

In a few words, my job consists in contacting schools in Belgium, France and the Netherlands in order to do presentations about Up with People there.

I had really great experiences in the different schools I went to. And I met amazing teachers, students and headmasters!

Once, we did a presentation at Val Notre Dame with Leonardo and Margaux in front of a group of girls in pyjas, and we took pictures of Leo with all his girls It was a pretty funny moment!

Presentation at Val Notre Dame

Trough all those presentations, I’ve been really impressed on how nice and active where the students in the schools where I’ve been to! I had wonderful times with them, and I hope they enjoyed the presentation as much as I did!

Doing those presentations reminds me on how it was for me when Up with People’s alumni came to my school to introduce Up with People. I had no idea of what it was about before and I felt so in love with the program! I’m so glad those people introduce me to the program!

Because those 6 months were just unbelievable!

I learned so much, I made friends from all over the world, I met amazing families on both sides of the globe, and I experienced so many things I would have never thought I would…

So guys, if you’re also convinced on how great is the Up with People program and if you think it would be a great idea to have us coming to your school or your old high school, don’t hesitate to contact our team or me! We would love to organise that!

Isaline Petit

Cast A 09

Today was the day of my Up with People interview.. how exciting!

As I was standing in front of the place where “my alumni” was waiting for me, my heart was beating. I was one minute late and I was so excited. Everything I knew about the woman who called me a few days ago to schedule the Up with People interview with me was that she has been on stage with Up with people in the 90´s.

What shall I say? Will she be nice? And the most important thing: What kind of questions will she ask?

A smiling woman came and we sat together. She offered me something to drink and we just started talking. She asked me about doing the interview in English so she could hear how good my English is. Oh my god! The last time I used English was weeks ago. “But however… I have to manage this…” I thought and there we go!

She had lots of questions about everything. What means leadership to me, how I came to Up with People, what I want to learn there, what I can contribute to a good group climate, how I deal with stress, what my hobbies are and so on. We talked and talked and even though it was really nice and I started to feel a lot better, I just thought they will never take me. I felt like I was talking complete mess. The most awful thing was when she asked me about something that happened in the media and touched me. I couldn´t think of one thing! I felt so foolish! But as I said that I couldn´t think of anything, my interview partner just laughed and asked me about anything that happened the last months. She was really nice..

Afterwards we just talked about this and that. I asked her about her time with Up with People and she told me that she has been in so many countries as normal participant and afterward as staff and that it was the best time of her life.

And now, that I was accepted to the program, 6 weeks before my departure to Denver/ Colorado.. I just can not wait to go myself!!

Charlotte Seippel

from Germany, last week accepted to the July 2010 Up with People program.

ps.: Charlotte was interviewed by the Alumna Christine Geissler. Charlotte has already her flight scheduled and we are all very excited to welcome her with Cast B 2010! Welcome Charlotte!

First of all again my sincere thanks for the ongoing and passionate support so many of you give to UWP admissions in Europe!

Last weekend  at the World Village Festival in Finland, alumni once more joined our admissions forces… With the truly amazing support of Paula, Nina, Sisa, Timo and others behind the scenes, we were present with an UWP booth and a recruiters team that rocked!!

Among the recruited students from the Festival, we have 3 late recruits for the July 2010 program!, which we plan to get fully on board for leaving in a month! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

As a follow up on the many and ongoing requests we receive from our alumni in which you ask for concrete ways to help our admissions for  the July 2010  and the January 2011 casts, I’d like to indicate  3 ideas for your action to help make a difference!

1. Recruit students for July 2010:  UWP still needs more European students – the July program tour will be: Tucson for the reunion celebration, Western US, Eastern US, Asia and México!! (http/www.upwithpeople.org)

2. Be active on the UWP social media platforms – use the UWP tools:

Post a message on your experience, recommend the UWP program ,  forward the You Tube video ‘ I have never..’- and spread the word ..

3. Create your testimonial video and post it on the You Tube link. Share your experience and pass on the passion..

Guideline to create your video testimonial and post it…click here!

Here is a great Testimonial! Robin Lokerman:

Robin Lokerman, MCI CEO

If you have any further question; comment here, email us or give us a call!

Warm regards and thank you!

Kristina

Couple weeks ago, the new Up with People commercial was released. Success was imidiate! Now, we would like to extend its outreach!

The commercial’s objective is to give a fresh, unconventional and modern teaser about the Up with People program. As much as it represents the Up with People program in 60 seconds,the production as a whole was done on the best Up with People way! Short deadlines, flexibility on the top and a big and diverse teamwork!

MA Shuming, the director wrote about the experience:

“If it takes a village to raise a child (African proverb) – then it takes a global village (virtual & local) to make a 60 second commercial.”

Read her article about the production here and leave your comments and feedback about her work:

http://notesfromtheeastvillage.blogspot.com/2010/03/up-with-people-commercial-making-of.html

In addition, Basti Hesse, the Alumni responsible for the first contact and that has put a lot of his experience  on the commercial posted the video in Facebook with all the credits…check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/video/video.php?v=378640255221

The video has already about 3000 views on Youtube… but why not more? After all this hard work, why don’t extend its popularity and help to spread the commercial and the Up with People program all around the world?

Here is the challenge!

We want to make the commercial viral on the web, and help Up with People to reach out students everywhere in the world! We want to go for 50000 hits in one mouth!

How can we?

Help us to pass it around and make its message more relevant!

Comment on this post, or Twitter, or facebook ginving your experience:

I have never… until … (I traveled abroad/ until I met someone/ until I lived in host families…and so on) and forward the challenge for the people you know can help to spread it as well!

I have never / Felt summer and winter / In the same month
I have never / Made a brother / In Mexico / And then helped him build his home
I have never / Overcome stage fright / In front of three thousand Thai children
I have never / Had Kimchi for breakfast / Or Surstromming for lunch
I have never / Known how much / There is to find / Not written in a book
I have never / Lived for a week / With a family/ Who couldn’t speak my language / And known the meaning of the word / Zusammen (subtitled: together)
I have never / Learned so much / Laughed so hard / Felt so strong / Or seen such heights
Until Now

We keep you posted in how the challenge is getting along!

So when I was asked to join the Admissions Development Committee Europe, I did not hesitate for a second… Because Up With People needs us! Recruiting new students for the program is not as simple as it used to be. There is only one cast travelling at a time, so we reach less countries at a time as we used to do. And many haven’t even heard that Up With People is back, after having known a rough time.

The program has changed, but the spirit is still the same. Only we need to bring that message out, and so, therefor we need all you Alumni to spread the word, and tell potential students about this amazing program.

If you know any student who is looking for an additional education, who wants to travel, learn about other cultures and about leadership, who wants to make a difference, then tell him/her about Up With People, and send him/her through to the USA headquarters, the European offices or me!

By doing so, you help Up With People stay alive !

So thank you in advance …

Many greetings,

Anne-Catherine Boes

Cast B ’92

Chair of  Admissions Development Committee Europe