Have you heard of the Leadership Development Program (LDP) through Summer Session? LDP provides undergraduate students the chance to develop leadership and mentorship skills. It also helps Summer Session spice up student life with programs and events while simultaneously creating a supportive and welcoming atmosphere for incoming freshmen, transfer students, and visiting international students. And best of all, the Leadership Development Program would like your help looking for new mentors.

Why should you get involved? Because we know that if you work at UCI, you see student potential every day, and strive to help them reach it.

Here’s a list of 10 traits to help identify Summer Session’s LDP mentors on campus:

  1. An eye for inclusivity. LDP mentors know that great ideas and helping hands can come from anyone. Thus, they try to make others feel welcome and heard so that we can all go farther, together!
  2. Find the seekers. LDP mentors are always seeking out new games, new knowledge, new experiences. Now, seeking golden snitches may be nothing new to UCI, but LDP mentors cannot contain their curiosity — whether it’s striving to understand problem-solving, troubleshooting, event planning processes or program development, LDP mentors are always up for what comes their way.
  3. Workouts are warmups. LDP mentors know the rewards of hard work — after all, in time their hard work won’t feel so hard! Mentors are always reaching beyond their grasp because with some determination and planning they eat problems for breakfast.
  4. Listen to communicate. In a world of talkers who never learned to listen, LDP mentors stand out as communicators. Communicators listen to other perspectives and ideas without judgement and adjust their own ideas accordingly. Then they express themselves so that others will not only listen but understand and engage at a higher level.
  5. Creative connector. Getting centered in a campus full of centers — be they “International”, “Career”, “Counseling”, “Student”, “Cross Cultural”, “Recreational”, or “Learning and Academic” — can be rough. An LDP mentor can see how each center contributes and supports the student body as a whole. Mentors actively engage by trying to match people and their needs to the people and places that can support them.
  6. Organized adventurer. With the busy world bustling by, LDP mentors know the importance of planning ahead, minding their checklists and calendars, and getting color coordinated and collated. Any great adventure starts with the first few steps, and planning those steps is essential to success. 
  7. Talented at tinkering. Some might pick something up, try it out, and put it down. Not an LDP mentor! Persistently working to understand, upgrade, and improve, LDP mentors strive to see the world from different angles — “checking under the hood” to make sure everyone has a smooth ride.
  8. Make the dream work (with teamwork!). When asked “How…?”, an LDP mentor instinctively answers “together.” Mentors learn to leverage each other’s strengths and make space for each other’s differences. An LDP mentor doesn’t just acknowledge but celebrates diversity and multiculturalism as essential traits of an optimal team environment.
  9. Role shuffler. Some mentors might start their day setting up an event; others might be hanging banners on campus; and still others are acting as the MC at an event. What do they have in common? LDP mentors seamlessly tie together their many talents and play to their strengths in a variety of roles.
  10. Think on their feet. Even when you’ve planned for everything under the sun, sometimes it starts to rain. LDP mentors are not afraid of the unexpected. They know every challenge offers new opportunities.

So there you have it. When interacting with Anteaters in class, see if you can spot the Summer Session LDP mentors who begin their training in winter quarter. Thirsty for more knowledge? Learn more at https://summer.uci.edu/programs/leadership/.