Notes from Springboard Fellows: Thinking Outside the Box
Notes from Springboard Fellows is a series of deep dives into the work of first and second year Springboard Fellows who play transformative roles in their Hillel communities. Read on to learn more about Craig Carroll, the Springboard Fellow at American University.
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Craig Carroll, a first-year Springboard Fellow at American University, started thinking about working for Hillel early in his college career. 鈥淚 was what you might call a pipeline kid,鈥 he joked. 鈥淗illel was like my second major 鈥 I spent all my time at the Hillel building.鈥
By the time he was a senior, Craig knew he wanted to pursue a career where building relationships was key. 鈥淚 really wanted something that was people-focused,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd where the main work is in connecting with people. Because that is what I love doing, and I’m very good at it.鈥
The Springboard Fellowship brings recent college graduates with raw talent, passion, and skills needed to reimagine and redesign Jewish student life to college campuses across North America. This was the perfect opportunity for Craig to combine his love for the Jewish world with his desire to work in an environment where every day would be different, where he鈥檇 get to focus on connection and community-building, and where he鈥檇 find great mentoring and professional development.
For Craig, having the support and structure of the Springboard environment has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the fellowship. 鈥淪pringboard really puts such an emphasis on the growth process,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 made clear what you need to work on and where you need to do better, but it鈥檚 not expected that you鈥檒l have all the answers immediately.鈥
One area where Craig invested a lot of professional development work has been building creative problem-solving skills and learning to facilitate brainstorming sessions with students. He recalled a moment earlier in his fellowship when he and his supervisor were working with students to plan a Wellness Shabbat, and had to go back to the drawing board several times to make sure their programming ideas aligned with what the community was looking for, and Hillel鈥檚 values regarding a Shabbat experience.
鈥淚t can be hard to encourage students to turn their ideas into reality,鈥 he said. 鈥淪ometimes they hold themselves back if they think an idea is too weird, or if they don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e the right thing…鈥
To work through this problem, Craig called on the insights he鈥檇 gained from a workshop at 精东影业鈥檚 New Professionals Institute (NPI). 鈥淲e were given a problem to solve, and our instructions were to come up with the worst possible idea to solve the issue. Then we passed it along the table, and the next person had to make it even worse, and so on. What it encouraged us to do was come up with ridiculous ideas and then say, 鈥榃hat could make this into a good idea?鈥 And then model it into something better.鈥 With this strategy in mind, Craig, his supervisor, and the student leaders were able to put together a successful and engaging Wellness Shabbat, and many other programs since.
Asked what advice he鈥檇 give a prospective Springboard Fellow, Craig suggested that the most important thing an applicant can do is self-advocate. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l want to make sure you ask for what you need,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd sometimes that means coming in with your own needs and advocating for them. That’s what I did, and I ended up very happy and fulfilled in my work.鈥
Join a network of changemakers like Craig and transform Jewish student life鈥 visit and apply today!