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2023-24 YLP 2-year Campus Program Application | Open in August 2023

This application is our sole form for choosing new participants.  Please take your time and include specific examples from your own life and experience to respond to the application questions.  We want to know how YLP will impact your educational experience.  We want to know what drives you.  We want to understand what you think about leadership and your intent for growth as a leader.

YLP occurs every Wednesday throughout the academic year from 7:30pm - 9:00pm on campus. We expect participants to attend all sessions.

We also have our 1st year retreat in Yosemite September 16-17th. Please block the entire weekend. This retreat is a critical component of YLP. 

Here are three recent examples of students who incorporated details and life experience to respond to the question about stepping out of their comfort zone:

1:   "My fascination with horses sparked my volunteer work for a therapeutic horseback-riding center for people with disabilities. Initially I volunteered my time solely to be around the horses. What I intended to be a part-time summer job turned into a year and a half of weekend commitments. My job was to lead the horse on a half-mile trail with the rider on the back. As I continued my weekend volunteer hours, I realized that I kept coming back not to be closer to the horses, but to be closer to the riders. There was one rider in particular that I bonded with. His name was Alex, and he was a 15-year-old with autism. He never talked, but when I sat down on a bench to eat my lunch between rides, he would come and sit silently beside me, sometimes leaning quietly on my shoulder. It's a hard friendship to explain, but it was one I had never experienced because it required no words. I had never known any person with a disability, and my time at the riding center allowed me to connect with children and adults who came from a different background."

2:   "In my Nature Center Internship class, we would lead tours of elementary school kids through the nature preserve behind my high school. When we led tours, we would also have someone assigned to be our follower to walk behind the line of kids to make sure they weren't falling behind or messing around. One day, I was leading a tour and a girl named Morgan was assigned to be my follower. As I was leading the kids around I would be explaining something and Morgan would interrupt me to share a personal experience about that animal or a random fun fact. At our first station when we dropped the kids off I talked to her and asked her why she was interrupting me and she said it was because she was just so excited to share these things with the kids. I realized she meant well so I told her that after I'm done talking about an organism I would ask if she had anything to add about it and we both agreed that would be the best way. I always try to resolve a conflict, however minor, with a win-win solution and this is a great example of that as the kids got to hear her fun stories and I got to finish giving my lessons on the animals. Resolving conflict constructively is an extremely important aspect of being a leader and keeping yourself composed, learning to weigh things, being objective and understanding people's differences is crucial."

3:   "A situation where I challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone would be when I went on the roller coaster at Disneyland since I'm afraid of heights. Although my friend had to practically drag me on I felt like I should take this leap of faith and try something that I'd never imagine myself doing. When the countdown from 10 started, so many thoughts were going through my head but it was too late to get off the ride now. After the two minute ride was over I was actually surprised that it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. I learned that things may look scary from a distance but when you actually come face to face with your fear, it is possible to overcome."

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Format: (209) 288-0000
What activities, clubs, organizations, and responsibilities do you intend to be involved in, aside from YLP, this coming academic year? Include estimated hours per week.

YLP is committed to leadership development for environmental advocacy and social change through skilled, ethical, innovative, and intentional action.  The program’s guiding principles are to develop students from all backgrounds to become ethical decision makers, skilled communicators, environmental advocates, and innovative, inclusive, and intentional leaders.  With that in mind, please respond to the following questions, limiting your answers to 250 words or less on each question.  Applications are competitive, so make sure your responses are detailed and reflective. 

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