Overview Program Thank you for making the commitment to take part in The Journey, created by the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values. Your involvement is critical to the overall experience and to the impact this experience has on the participants. The Journey is designed for participants to experience the following: • Cultural Immersion • Service to a Community • Emotional Introspection and Understanding of Personal Strengths • Personal Commitment to an idea for Social Good • Using fraternal values and purpose as the catalyst to make that idea a reality Think of these intentions as focus areas for your work as a Guide for this immersion experience. It is suggested that you use these intentions as the framework from which you speak, act, and instruct during the trip. Assessment of the experience will be centered on the connection of the individual participant to the program intentions. This binder of information will assist in preparing you fully for this immersion experience. As with any experience though, especially those involving travel with large groups, we cannot be 100% prepared for everything that may come your way. These materials and prior program orientation discussions should get you close. In a perfect world, things would always go smoothly. Flights would not arrive late, and they certainly would never be cancelled. Participants and leaders wouldn’t forget anything on the suggested packing list, and volunteer coordinators would never change plans on the fly. However, this is not the world that The Journey lives in. And that’s okay. We invite you to embrace it. As you go through the experience, recognize that although you should do your best to keep things on schedule, some overlap and surprises are bound to occur. If you are unable to be flexible and hopeful in the face of these challenges, it will be hard to expect flexibility from your participants. If one service group is going to be late to dinner, empower other students to fill missing roles until they arrive. If a leader needs to leave to make an airport run for a late-arriving student, collaborate with other leaders to make sure they are prepared. Flexibility, collaboration, and critical-thinking are essential to a successful experience at The Journey. We also need your help in evolving this program to ensure future success. Please take notes and jot down your questions and thoughts as you move through the experience. You will participate in a debriefing call following The Journey and your ability to reflect on these notes will be integral that discussion. All that being said, we again thank you! We know you are making a large investment of time to help guide this experience, and we are incredibly grateful! Enjoy The Journey!
1