Dylan

Whilst engaged, Dylan started off in sessions quiet and attentive, happily observing on the sidelines. As the project progressed, the team saw Dylan actively taking himself out of his comfort zone and inspiring others to aim high and move forward with confidence. He played an active role in decision making and leadership as the team began promoting their project.  

Do you recall how you felt in the very first Envision session?

I really didn’t know what Envision was, but I still wanted to take part because I was just trying to get out of my comfort zone. My friend had done it before and said it was good and that they did a social action project. But I didn’t really know what that was. I knew as well that I would have to work on my skills, but I didn’t realise we would be jumping straight in and communicating ideas with the team! 

Was there a moment on the programme where you felt like something shifted for you?

I think something shifted for me when we started talking about our original plan to use the ceiling tiles [for our artistic social action project] but then that didn’t go the way we wanted. Then we came up with the idea of using little coasters and I realised that I felt more able to share my ideas with my team. This came from really wanting our project to progress and not come to a standstill; I wanted to keep rolling. Then I really wanted to share our plans and promote the event, so I spoke at assembly, which really pushed me out of my comfort zone.

What was it like to hear from your mentor that you inspired them to set their own personal goal around public speaking?

Yeah, I was really quite surprised. When I first met with him, I really thought he was quite confident but as I went again and visited him in the office, I realised that actually he is quite shy, but he puts himself out there, even when he’s not comfortable. It was like the programme worked in reverse almost and I was glad to have helped him to also feel like he can put himself in front of more people. I was expecting them to do that to me, but I’m really glad I helped – because I feel if I could do that for a mentor, I could do that for anyone.

What’s your top takeaway from the Envision Programme?

I really think my proudest moment and something that I will take away with me is that we actually made our social action project actually happen and a lot more people got involved than we expected. It was my highlight because our idea actually worked and it did bring people together, which is what we had set out to do.  

… And I guess presenting in front of the judges and winning the trophy too! I was much less nervous than I had anticipated, and I felt like I talked really well and actually made eye contact with the audience and with each of the judges.