The Pearson Seminar on Youth Leadership (PSYL) program is an interactive and experiential learning program that offers the UWC & Pearson College UWC experience in a three-week summer program. PSYL is designed for students in grades 10-12 (ages 15-18). This includes those entering grade 10 in September 2018, and those graduating Grade 12 in June 2018.
At PSYL, we want students to enjoy themselves at a safe, exceptional campus on the magnificent shores of Pedder Bay on southern Vancouver Island. Each day is a blend of educational, recreational, cultural and social activities, that run from dawn to dusk. PSYL believes in the power of education to enable young people across the globe to face the challenges of today’s world.. Each summer, we build an international youth community committed to discovering who they are and what incredible change they can create.
The seminar is designed to strengthen the role young people play as community and world leaders. Participants are encouraged to broaden their perspectives on key global issues and are offered opportunities to develop the skills they need – conflict transformation, communication, consensus decision making and self reflection – to grow as leaders focused on peace, ecological sustainability, social justice and intercultural understanding.
Over the course of PSYL, we explore concepts of leadership from diverse perspectives. At PSYL, leadership is not about who is at the front of the room, who speaks the loudest or who is the most popular. Instead, we understand leadership as having the courage to ask yourself big questions and to translate those ideas into meaningful action. This year’s program will take place from Sunday July 15, 2018 to Saturday August 4, 2018. Sign up today to secure your spot to an amazing summer experience!
But there is more! This year we are launching the Pearson Seminar on Collaborative Leadership (PSCL): Keep the cycle going. Think of it as a PSYL 2.0! For the first time ever, past PSYL participants 18+ are invited back to the Pearson College UWC campus to reconnect, recharge, and to share their passions and journeys since completing their PSYL summer program at Pearson. Like PSYL, our focus will be on leadership, social justice, environmental justice, and personal growth. There will be Spirit Spots, Circles, Carpe Diems/Craft’Ems, and time spent on community building and on the land. PSCL leaders are committed to making this program collaborative. The majority of workshops will be led or informed by participants and the program will responsive to the desires, passions, interests, and understandings of its members.
We can’t wait to go beyond PSYL with you and build on how PSYL has informed your perspective since leaving the program.
Sign up today to come back to campus from Sunday 10 June to Friday 22 June 2018.
Earn High School Credit
PSYL has been approved by the Ministry of Education in British Columbia to offer students high school credits. (BC: 4 credits at the Grade 12 level through the External Credentials Program). Many schools in Ontario also grant PSYL participants a credit, please check with your school first. (ON: Interdisciplinary Studies Grade 12 University Preparation credit IDC4U.) Students in other provinces may be eligible to receive either of these as transfer credits and can discuss with their school administration.