19th Edition: Celebrating progress & how to land your learning

Thanks for being here

Hey everyone, hope you’re having a wonder-full week

Today was one I’ll remember with gratitude.

I delivered my first paid workshop that was all my own.

I’ve run a lot of workshops over the past couple of years—all of which I’ve loved—but they were either pre-determined topics or part of programs I was merely a contributor to.

This was different.

I got to pitch an idea, then design and deliver it. All thanks to the wonderful team from the Student Success Centre at Concordia University. The icing on the cake was registration was exceptionally high given the interest in the topic—how to attract career opportunities for students transitioning to the workforce.

I was hit with a profound realization when it came time to design the workshop.

I spend most of my time admiring the work of those ahead of me and putting in the reps to advance, that I forget to credit myself for how far I’ve come.

Moving to London. Working in Paris. Going independent as a freelancer.

Hell, all of these things—and more from by bio below—were at one point “unattainable dreams.”

But look at me now.

It felt incredible to bask in the realization that I’m living my dreams.

Even though I have many more and “the goal posts keep on moving”, I need to celebrate being exactly where I’d dreamt of being not so long ago.

It also fills my heart to know sharing my hard earned lessons—specifically around not giving up when I felt lost or adrift in my career—is helping talented and ambitious students avoid similar challenges.

One student told me at the end of the workshop that she’d changed her mind about how to approach the job search and she was eager to try the tips I’d shared. And a bunch of others connected with me on LinkedIn with lovely messages like this one:

The best work is rewarding. And it’s hard to describe how rewarding it is to connect with others and guide them along their unique journeys.

Today is the beginning of a new book. ✨

💌 Stay tuned for more updates.

Now, here are three gems I want to share with you:

An experience to inspire: Mentor training

Remember Chicken Soup for the Soul?

If you weren’t a bookworm in the ‘90s like yours truly, you might be wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Basically it’s a book series that went viral—or whatever the non-digital equivalent is.

Each book is a compilation of heartwarming short stories on everything from love to life lessons and “tough stuff”.

I was obsessed.

I just found the one pictured below atop a stack of books my parents recently dropped off—having stored my collection for the past decade, while I was on my world tour.

Growing up, I graduated from Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul to the pre-teen edition, and teenage editions I and II. No to mention I had the sisters edition—because hey I have two sisters—and pretty much every other version I could relate to in any way.

I even read my mom’s editions on parenting and motherhood.

Needless to say there was magic captured between the covers.

I feel a similar magic within the Write of Passage community.

Write of Passage is the Chicken Soup for the Soul of courses.

That’s my take, anyway. My student experience was a huge catalyst in improving my writing—and thinking—over the past few months. Plus it brought more incredible people into my life than I can count on two hands.

That’s why I’m pumped to share that I’ll be joining the March cohort as a Mentor helping students smash their writing goals.

Here’s a sneak peek from our first Mentor training session—don’t mind the “deep in thought” expressions.

And here’s an article I wrote last year on why the course sets the bar for premier online learning.

✍🏻 If you’re keen to level up your writing with an incredible community of peers supporting you along the way, get involved. Register as a student here.

P.S. If you want more info on what the course is all about, check out this free event tomorrow.

A resource to consider: Land the learning

“Help them land the learning.”

My former boss taught me a lot about building effective learning experiences. And those five words are always at the back of my mind.

She was referring to students’ need to converge on the information we send their way.

Think of you students as pilots.

Your job is to give them instructions for how to get off the ground, then guide them on a journey through the sky. But when it comes to landing the plane, you need to go beyond giving instructions.

Unless you outline a parking space at the end of the runway and act as an air traffic controller ushering them into it, your pilots will park haphazardly.

Think of templates as parking spots.

They give students the constraints they need to bring everything to a smooth finish—one that’s easy to work from going forward.

Here’s an example of the worksheet I used in today’s workshop to help students land their learning for each step:

📄 Are you helping students land their learning? If not, how could you add templates, worksheets, or workbooks to do so?

A question to ponder: Give yourself credit

Time to give credit.

I started today’s edition off by sharing how I fail to give myself credit for how far I’ve come. And I have a sneaking suspicion you’re guilty of this too.

💭 So my questions for you are: how have you evolved over the past year? How can you celebrate that growth and expansion?

Thanks for reading my nineteenth newsletter

My goal is to prompt reflection within this vibrant community of ours, so I’d love your feedback on how I can make future editions beneficial.

Got an idea or burning question I could address? Hit reply and we’re off.

Have a wonder-full week,

Alexandra

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