2024 Aspire Leaders Program

Module 1 Syllabus
Personal and Professional Development

Aspire Leaders Program Mission

Our mission is to prepare low-income, first-generation college students worldwide to be leaders in their
communities and reach their full potential academically and professionally through our fully funded Aspire
Leaders Program (ALP).
Our common goals for participants in the program include:
● Build Self Confidence/Self Awareness
● Develop Critical Thinking
● Build Communication Skills
● Develop Intercultural Competency
● Create Your Global Community
● Make Social Impact

Module 1 Learning Objectives

The focus of Module 1 is personal and professional development. Some of the main learning objectives
include:
● Gain skills to help you advance toward leadership roles
● Increase your understanding of your individual strengths
● Gain competence in communicating your strengths, skills, and experience
● Gain cultural awareness and competency from peer interactions
● Gain confidence in your ability to apply your strengths to future aspirations

Time Commitment
The program is completed virtually with both asynchronous and synchronous components. You can
expect to spend around five hours per week on your Module 1 assignments. Module 1 is three weeks
long.

Technology & Peer Groups

To participate, you will need to have this:
● Connectivity – either WiFi or Data
● Device – Mobile Phone, Tablet, or Computer

Peer Groups
You will be assigned to a Group of other students as a part of our community building efforts. Groups will
be accessed through Discord, which you will be invited to via email. Do not share the Discord link with
anyone. Doing so will result in your removal from the program.

Your group number will be the last two digits of the phone number you submitted to Aspire in your
application, i.e. “Group 24” if your phone number is 953-345-6624.

You will use the “Group 24” chat channel to meet your fellow Group members and engage in
conversation. You will use the assignments channel to submit your discussion post responses.
There are also video rooms available in Discord. These are called Meeting Rooms, and they are smaller
than the Group spaces. Meeting Rooms are available to participants in any Group, so you might meet
new people that are not a member of your Group. The Meeting Rooms will be used to give your Week 3
presentations.

You will be asked to submit three email addresses of fellow participants in your End of Module
Submission. These fellow participants will serve as your Peer References.

Interacting with Others

Good Behavior Expectations
We highly value our Aspire community and aim to keep it a positive, safe, and inspiring place for
members to learn. All participants must agree to abide by Aspire’s Good Behavior Expectations. Failure to
comply with this agreement may lead to a warning, temporary suspension, or permanent removal from
the program. You agreed to abide by these Expectations as a part of your registration for the program.

Guidelines for Community Discussions

ALP requires you to engage in frequent discussions with your peers. Some recommendations on how to
approach these conversations are below.
1. Be fully present.
2. Listen to others actively and with care.
3. Be self-responsible and self-challenging. Do not be afraid to ask questions.
4. Respect others’ opinions; respond with courtesy and moderation, especially when disagreeing
with them.
5. Speak from your own experience instead of generalizing (use “I” instead of “they”, “we” instead of
“you”).
6. Monitor your participation. If you are someone who normally talks a lot, then try to work on
listening; if you are someone who normally stays quiet, then try to work on speaking up.

Safety
The Aspire Leaders Program is a safe space for amazing people with diverse backgrounds from all
around the world to gather, learn, and grow together. Any sort of abusive behavior is grounds for warning,
suspension, or removal from the program.

If you ever experience or witness behavior violating the Aspire Good Behavior Expectations, please report
it immediately by completing the Safety Form. If this abuse has occurred within your Group and you do
not feel comfortable remaining there, please follow the Law of Two Feet and remove yourself from your
Group or the Meeting Room. If you need guidance on how to change Groups, please ask our Chatbot.

Withdrawal
You have the option to withdraw from the program at any time. This can be done by submitting the
Withdrawal Form. It will ask for you to provide some feedback on the reason for your withdrawal.
 Module 1 Materials & Assignments
All program materials will be made available to you at no cost. The most important resource will be the
Module 1 Course Website. You can also find useful information in this Syllabus or when logged in at
apply.aspireleaders.org.

If you participated in an earlier version of the Aspire Leaders Program, you might remember using your
Aspire Portal page. This is different from the Course Website. Please use the Module 1 Course Website
instead of the Aspire Portal page.

Learning Activities and Assignments

Activity is central to learning. In this module, you’ll have various kinds of activities and you’ll also have
written learning assignments. There are 4 types of assignments: 1) Self-Reflection Prompts, 2)
Discussion Posts, 3) Presentations, 4) Assessments. Self-Reflection Prompts are completely private
tasks that you complete independently and do not submit for review. Discussion Posts are sent in your
assignments channel on Discord and build the foundation of your discussion with other participants.
Presentations are to be conducted in the Meeting Rooms on Discord. You must speak to at least 3 other
participants and share your presentation with each of them. This can be in a group setting, or a one on
one basis. Assessments are items that are submitted to, and viewable by, Aspire.

Additional details about the Self-Reflection Prompts and learning assignments for each week appear
under the Weeks tab on the course website.

At the end of the Module you will complete the End of Module Assessment. This will ask you to answer
some multiple choice test questions, submit your updated LinkedIn, updated resume, and short essay
reflection. You will also be required to enter the email addresses of the 3 participants you gave your
presentation to. This is so that they can serve as your Peer References, confirming you completed your
Week 3 presentation.

Course Schedule

Start Date Learning Activities Learning Assignments Due Date

Week 1 End of Week 1

(1/10/24) ● Access the Module 1 Course Site via the link in your ● Reflection #1 (1/16/24)
email. Review each section. ● Reflection #2
● Join your Discord Group. This can be accessed through ● Reflection #3
the link in your email. ● Discussion Post #1
● Designate a space for your Self-Reflection Prompts. We ● Discussion Post #2
recommend using a Google Document.
● Take the BigFive Personality Test. Download your results.
 Start Date Learning Activities Learning Assignments Due Date

Week 2 End of Week 2

(1/17/24) ● Watch the three, brief Career Services videos. ● Reflection #4 (1/23/24)
● Develop your resume drawing on advice from the videos. ● Discussion Post #3
● Look at LinkedIn pages for people in fields of interest to you. ● Reflection #5
Drawing on those and on your resume, develop your own
LinkedIn page.
● Prepare for the Week 3 presentation.

Week 3 End of Week 3

(1/24/24) ● Review instructions on participating in peer presentations. ● Reflection #6 (1/30/24)
● Draft, practice, and revise your 3 minute introduction to ● Complete the End
yourself (based on Reflection #5). of Module
● Join Meeting Rooms at a time convenient for you and Assessment by
engage in presentations. 11:59pm EST
● Revise your resume drawing on the feedback you received
from your peers.