On Friday January 16, the PAFs and the PAF Advising Team (PAT) participated in an all-day Spring Training. The day started with a working breakfast led by PAF Professional Development Advisor Sara Melita about “Polishing Your Facilitation Skills.” We learned how to handle difficult situations as a facilitator of a meeting and we got to practice those skills as many of us presented throughout the day.
After working on our facilitation skills, second-year fellow, Austin Frizzell, presented on listening skills and gave us a preview of the PAF Service Committee presentation for MLK Day of Service. Michael McKenzie, the Managing Director of Career Learning and Experience, also joined us to present on effective storytelling. We talked about storytelling in the context of explaining the PAF experience to potential employers. This session was a useful preparation for the mock interviews that happened later in the day.
Over lunch, PAFs had an opportunity to network and connect with the other PAFs’ preceptors. Shirley Hsieh and I also presented on the feedback and self-knowledge competencies. It was an engaging discussion where fellows and preceptors were able to discuss some of the challenges of giving and receiving feedback. It was enlightening to hear about how all of the different PAF/preceptor pairs give and receive feedback to each other based on their personal preferences.
In the afternoon, GW’s Learning and Development Associate and long-time PAFriend Trayonna Floyd facilitated the Maestro Game, a team-based activity which helped us explore problem solving and teamwork through the interactive use of hand bells. A few of the PAFs got to showcase their musical talent and it ended up being a very fun part of the day!
We ended our Spring Training day with an Alumni Speed Interviewing Session, thanks to the suggestion of PAF alumnus Darrin Kayser, CCAS BA ’98, GSPM MA ’00. We paired up and got to answer challenging interview questions from the PAT and four PAF alumni who volunteered their time: Darrin, along with Jordan Evert, ESIA BA ’08 MA ’10, Sandra Perez Hawthorne, CCAS BA ’09, ESIA MA ’11, and Chelsea Ullman, CCAS BA ’12 MPP ’14. We also received immediate feedback from the interviewers on what we did well and what we can do to improve. This session was my favorite part of the day because it was very interactive and helped me feel more confident for interviews in the coming weeks.
After spring training concluded, we met with a number of PAF alumni for happy hour. It was nice to continue conversations from speed interviewing, and to see all of the other alumni who were able to join us.
PAF Spring Training and our Alumni Happy Hour were shared efforts of current PAFs, the Professional Development Committee, Alumni Committee, the PAF Advising Team, and PAF alumni. The day was a great success and I am very thankful for the collective work of the PAFamily in making this happen. Thank you!