A workshop on the importance of Leadership and Solidarity was conducted by St. Joseph’s College of Law on 22nd May 2024 in collaboration with the Divine Mercy School, with the aim of helping the students be more confident in understanding their strengths and identifying their future aspirations and goals for the near future.

1. Formation of Teams: the event firstly commenced with a game (icebreaker) where the students were asked to move around the room in different directions and form groups, with the aim of socialising them with students other than their own friend groups. The groups that were formed through this activity served as a foundation for all the activities later. A student volunteer was assigned to each group to communicate and interact throughout the workshop.

2. Icebreakers: The students were engaged in icebreaking games of guessing words through bodily actions and ‘two truths and a lie’ in order to interact with each other and build a sense of team spirit.

3. Hellen Keller story: After the group activities, the students were given a brief presentation about the life story of Hellen Keller, with a focus on how she overcame her physical disabilities. The students were asked to reflect on their thoughts and write down the challenges they faced in comparison to Hellen Keller’s life.

4. Obstacle game: In the next segment of the workshop, a student was required to volunteer to play an obstacle game, where one student was blindfolded and was asked to navigate through a series of obstacles by following the directions of other members of their groups respectively. The students enthusiastically participated in this game with great zeal and active participation.

5. Zine making: After a highly enthusiastic game, the students were taught to make a Zine (small booklet) and write down their individual life stories, their fears, dreams, and goals. The students actively listened and patiently reflected on their thoughts and decorated their Zines with drawings and quotes and expressed their creativity.

6. Structure making: After the Lunch break, the students were supplied with newspapers, scissors, and glue and were asked to build a structure of their choice, collectively as a team. This activity aimed to help them understand and recognize their leadership skills, creativity, and cooperation. This activity proved to be extremely fruitful in its endeavour, as the students came up with creative models and structures (ex: a rocket, a castle, a robot etc.) and engaged diligently.

7. Reflections: As a last exercise of the workshop, all the students were asked to relax and reflect on their experiences from the day. The students shared the different things that they learnt, such as communicating, volunteering, socializing, and expressing their ideas and creativity. They shared their highlights from the day and the activities they enjoyed doing the most. The groups were given chart sheets to write down their valuable feedback, which they creatively expressed.

The Workshop proved to be an enriching and refreshing experience for the students. It helped provide them with great insight into aspects of building self-confidence and leadership skills. The event was also successful due to the dedicated efforts of the organizers, volunteers, teachers, students, and the faculty of the Divine Mercy School who contributed their enthusiasm and time to make it a productive and enriching workshop.