During the thinc Program this summer one of my favorite highlights of the week was when we had the students interview the adult mentors. It was a simple activity over lunch in Valley Forge National Park. A list of questions. A flip camera. One student recorded and one student asked the questions. But the discussions (like the one pictured to the left with my dad and two of our students) that resulted were simply fantastic to witness.
The goal of the thinc Program is to get students to “thinc” about their futures. What do they want to do? Who do they want to be? How will they have a positive impact on the world?
The adults who volunteer at the thinc Program are truly incredible individuals with very different career backgrounds. Seeing the students absorb the stories of how each person pursued education, formally and informally, followed his/her interests and let passion for a certain topic or for providing for a family guide their decisions was an absolute pleasure. The 30 minute interview activity embodies everything we are trying to do with the Purple Feet Foundation.
So, why not do this all year long? We have so many friends, and friends of friends, and people we have not met yet, but are interested in helping the Purple Feet Foundation, that have such interesting stories. Stories about how they came to pursue the careers they have today. Once a month we are going to make these stories come to life for anyone who wants to listen via thinc Career Chats. Using Google hangouts we’ll have a student interview a special guest about his/her personal journey. Following the live interview, students will have the opportunity to ask questions of the special guest via chat.
If you are interested in being one of our monthly guests, or know of someone who would be willing to share his/her story with kids from all around the world, please let us know. Just drop me a line at lance@purplefeetfoundation.org or direct message us on Twitter @pffbff.