The Birth of WAP at EMLYON by Keya

Allegro Cantabile#1 The Birth of WAP at EMLYON

I knew Diane LENNE from WAP (WE ARE THE PROJECTS). She is the founder of this innovative course, which aims at guiding people to take action on their future path. After 2 sessions of WAP, I couldn’t help recommending her to everyone I know. I posted a status:

I’ve participated in a great course, I’ve meet fascinating people. I wake up differently. I live differently.

It’s absolutely crazy to have a course designed and lead by a student in a school. Yet ever since I’m in WAP, wonders never cease. It’s like a living body, and it is growing, unexpectedly. I found such impulse in me: to introduce Diane, and WAP, to the world!

Here’s part of the interview I did with Diane on March 26th, after the 5th session of WAP. I delayed my schedule of publishing it, not only because it’s a huge amount of work transferring the interview, but also because I’ve been doing something else lately: Try WAP in China!

I hope this first script will give you, my reader, an idea of how WAP happened at EMLYON.

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“One summer, I started organizing peer learning week-ends with my friends. Every time, participants were telling me: “It gave me extraordinary amount of energy”. “Now I’m willing to to go and to make a change in my life, I’m going to change the world”… you know, ,these kind of things (laugh). So, for one year, we have kept facilitating knowledge sharing with peers in France, San Francisco, Romania, and always the same vibring atmosphere !

I have realized the potential of our methodologies for schools. That’s why I offered the EMLYON Academic Dean to create a course from it. I have showed him the process, ressources, references. He told me OK, let’s try .

The launching conference was in November 2015. The topic was “How the current world transformations will affect your life”. I was very very anxious, because I was a student, offering a very different course to my peers. I was not sure anyone would come. Finally, a hundred came, and 160 applied.

At first I was so unconfident, that i feared anyone will come back. But all of them were there at the 2nd session. Participants told me “Each step is unexpected, more interesting”. At the end of the course, participants asked for joining the meeting with the academic dean. They said the course should replace Career Service (a department for professional orientation at EMLYON).

“It truly helped me. It opened my mind” said Tian, international student. “My friend ask me : How do you know everything happening about social entrepreneurship ? Because I took action, at the WAP course” replies Adrien.

And also, one told me:

Back home after the sharing with each other, I got so inspired by one of the conversation that I have designed a full website. I have never done this, but now I’m getting used to take actions and putting my ideas into action.

She told me that it truly changed her life. But, it was not because of me. It was thanks to the interaction with peers. So I realized how important the interaction, communication an inspiration from students to students count. Actually, all this course is based from this.

I have always been absolutely convinced, that’s something special lies in every individual, every student. They can get inspired from each other. And they don’t need a teacher to inspire them.”