Empower Program: Find Your Forte Workshop
On 24th August 2024, as a part of the Empower Volunteer Program 2024, Future Forte’s Co-CEO, Regil Cadavos, conducted yet another successful workshop on ‘Finding your Forte.’ The word ‘Forte’ is derived from the French Word forte (pronounced as for-tay) which basically means strength.
The program was attended by an audience approximately comprising of 25-30 participants (international students/residents) with the goal of finding everyone’s strengths and how could these strengths be further leveraged for ensuring a successful personal and professional life.
The program started with the introduction to the country and paying respects to the traditional owners, elders and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation (past, present and the emerging). This was followed by a quick discussion on how one defines Strength or discovers what he/she is naturally good at.
Furthermore, Regil touched upon the concept of ‘Positive Psychology’ where one focuses on strengths with the goal of utilizing them for the benefit of the individual and the general society. Additionally, she also recommended some tests such as SWOT Analysis, VIA Characteristics Strength which help in evaluating one’s strengths.
Additionally, an individual activity took place where every participant had to jot down their strengths on a piece of paper. After around 10 mins of self-discussion, each participant also had to find a way to talk about their strengths by providing examples in terms of
When did they feel the most energized and what strength was used to get that energy
Strengths what others have noticed about each participant in general
The tasks done by the individual where multiple strengths were used to attain final desired goal/s
There was also a brief discussion on the importance of embracing an individual’s strengths be it for boosting confidence, work productively, develop core problem solving skills and what not.
Following the individual activity, the participants were then split into groups of 3-4 people where each one had to talk about their strengths and choose the best strength from their list which the person had develop during their life as an international student by providing specific examples on how it shaped them to become a better individual.
The event concluded with a brainstorming discussion where participants had to determine how their strengths could be used to improve their social connections, mental health, increase their chances at securing better job opportunities by further reflecting on how to continue building on each individual’s current strengths and even develop new strengths in the future by complementing other people’s fortes to enhance the overall societal wellbeing.
