A CTD Profile: Becoming a Better Leader

Seventh-grader, Mateo Wallace from Boise tells us what drew him to CTD and what’s he learned

By Ed Finkel

The Civic Education Project at CTD provides innovative school-year and summer programs as well as online courses that develop knowledge, experience and leadership skills, enabling young people to learn through collaboration and service.

CEP consists of the summer Civic Leadership Institute for high-school students, which integrates theory and practice to inspire change agents on current social and political issues; Online Leadership Intensive for grades 7-10, focused on building leadership skills through reflective learning opportunities; and two academic summer camps for middle-school students: the Summer Leadership Intensive, which adds a hands-on component to the online version, and Taking Action, in which students research issues and learn about innovative solutions.

Mateo Wallace, a seventh-grader from Boise, Idaho, is one regular student who can attest to the value of the Online Leadership Intensive. He’s taken several leadership courses through the program, including Leadership for Today, Dynamic Leadership: Skills & Strategies, and Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation, in addition to numerous other courses across a range of disciplines through CTD.

Mateo spends lots of time combing through the various offerings available through CTD and has found plenty to like. The opportunity to become a better leader, build his confidence, and learn more about the collaborative aspect of working within a team is what has attracted him to the Civic Education Project courses, he says. “I’ve liked them a lot,” he adds. “They’ve been really engaging, and I have learned so much.”

Improving his leadership skills has been helpful in middle school, when Mateo is assigned to work with classmates on a group project. For example, in math class, there are breakout sessions where students work on problems together, and he’s often the one who takes charge of the whiteboard. In English, he and two other students each had to do their own section of a research project, and “I really led everyone in helping with organizing our work and staying on task,” he says. CTD “has just helped overall with my classes. I’ve gotten to learn about different ways that I can be the best leader I can, and different ways I can help my peers and the people I interact with.”

“I remember that in my favorite CTD Leadership Intensive course, Leadership for Today, I identified that I really needed to improve on talking to my peers and work on my leadership skills more than I realized,” Mateo says. “Before I took this class, I wasn't the most comfortable speaking in front of others. But afterward, I was able to speak confidently and not feel embarrassed about it. The class overall helped improve my leadership skills in many different areas, but especially my speaking skills.” 

Mateo says he’s looking forward to his upcoming Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation course. “We are going to be tasked with developing a business plan to address a real-life problem in today’s society.” In addition, Mateo explains “I will be able to select the issue and create a solution.  There are so many social issues in our world today that this is a very relevant course. I am very excited to take on a problem that bothers me, and maybe I will find a solution that can be used in the real world.” 

In addition to the leadership classes, Mateo says the creative-writing courses he’s taken through CTD have been particularly memorable. “It’s a ton of fun to write stories and poems and share them with others. I have had such amazing instructors,” he says.

Mateo also has appreciated the opportunity to meet peers from all over the world through his online classes. “Someone in one of my leadership classes was from India, and another person was from Canada,” and “Someone that was in my group that we did breakouts with was from somewhere else in Asia. Which is pretty cool. … You get to have a lot of experiences with people from around the world.”

What advice would Mateo give to classmates who are thinking about taking leadership and service-learning classes at CTD? “Always have a pen and paper handy so you can write different things down,” he says. “Don’t be nervous—because everyone else is learning with you. Keep an open mind because there might be some discussions or points of view that go against what you’re thinking, but keep your ears open and you will learn from others.”

To learn more about Center for Talent Development’s leadership and service-learning programs, please visit ctd.northwestern.edu/service-learning-and-leadership.