Developing Leadership Skills through Volunteer Work - submitted by Daniele Mocellin

No one is born a leader. However, everyone can develop leadership skills. When you are attending in Academic Advanced Service Learning program, you certainly know that your English skills will improve. Maybe, what you do not know is: your leadership skills will develop, too.

Each volunteer experience gives you an important lesson and you can use this knowledge to develop yourself.   Learn how to:

• Take initiative: when you do not wait for someone to get started and take action, you are the example. Leaders should have attitude!

• Accept responsibility: even when you know exactly what is needed, accepting challenges is important to be a stronger leader.

• Ask for advice if you need it: This will encourage group involvement and help accomplish group goals.

• Treat others as individuals: put your knowledge and understanding of each group member to work.  In almost all experiences, you will practice your team work ability.

• Build optimism: no one wants to hear what's wrong with a task; your colleagues want to hear your suggestions for making it better.

• Be flexible: nowadays, everyone is talking about resisting change. Show you can handle change or by helping others with change.

• Be creative: during all tasks in volunteering work you will think "How can you make things easier?" Use your creativity to continuously improve processes, and make you a better leader as a result.

In summation, working with other people who have different customs, culture, and expectations is a really great challenge. And you? Do you accept our invitation to improve your leadership skills through volunteer work?

Objectives and Other Important Learning in AASL - submitted by Alexandre Monteiro

Learning English as a second language was my goal when I planned my experience abroad. After 6 months of a rich and fantastic experience, I realize how small my initial goal has become. Besides the necessity of English for my future in a country like Brazil, I find that I have changed and grown up in all respects: as a person, professional, husband, father, and son. The differences and adversity experienced in an opportunity like this make you reflect and reevaluate your values and behaviors, but primarily your goals.

The AASL core class, through the themes presented in the lessons and the volunteer work, was key to this maturing. Learning and/or reaffirming values through volunteering, together with the sensations and feelings in an experience abroad, sum up maturation and balance, based on respect and the practice of empathy.