Skills for Success Course
Pre-College and Pre-Career
Learn About the 2024 Skills for Success Course
70 students joined us for an incredible two weeks in June and July 2024. Hear and read their stories, and learn about our Ivy League facilitator team, below.
What Our Students are Saying
Aryana’s Futures Forge Experience, S4S 2024
Hear from Raif, an International Student (London, UK)
Hear from Julie
“The 2 weeks at Skills for Success are invaluable. These skills and attributes are incredibly relevant to your personal, academic, and professional life.”
--Julie, S4S 2024
Hear from Gian
“This is one of the few programs that can turn an overachiever into an over-overachiever.”
-Gian Carlo, S4S 2024
Your 2024 Facilitators
The Skills for Success lead facilitators are Nat and Erik, the founders.
Futures Forge's founders and curriculum leads graduated from MIT and Oxford and founded multiple companies (management consulting, devtools startup, hardware startup). We have published books on political polarization, tertiary education, and technical problem-solving, and have jointly coached and managed over 100 top-talent young adults.
The foundation of our companies’ success has always been the rapid development of talented young people; our employees have gone on to found, lead, and accelerate dozens of great businesses. Today, we are developing talent all over the world using the methods we learned and developed.
Sam Goldstone
Sam Goldstone is a rising senior at Tufts University who has been heavily involved in the educational realm since high school. First as captain of his debate team and an instructor and director for Lumos Debate, Sam knows firsthand how to create and oversee effective programming that teaches high schoolers the important real world critical thinking and analytical skills that Futures Forge promises to deliver. Through experiences in his consulting club in college, he's been able to both enhance his own skills in problem-solving, project management and interpersonal communication and help motivate others to do the same. As a Sophomore Advisor that lived in a freshman dorm, Sam has helped support students' emotional needs while they were away from home for the first time. Sam is deeply passionate about Futures Forge's mission and can't wait to start facilitating effective programming this summer!
Colleen Halleck
Colleen Halleck is a rising Senior at Dartmouth College, majoring in Biological Anthropology and minoring in Human-Centered Design. As a Teaching Assistant for a Design Thinking course, Colleen works closely with students to guide them through the design process and help them grapple with feasibility, functionality, and creativity. This past year, Colleen also worked in a selective Design Corps team, working with peers and professors to address high-level problems on campus from a human-centered perspective. Colleen is deeply excited about Futures Forge and is looking forward to meeting her fellow facilitators and of course, the students!
Alisa Hil
Alisa Hil is a sophomore at MIT studying computer science with the life mission to revolutionize the educational system. Since middle school she had helped peers with math, physics, and languages, later consulted them on how to make money online while being a teenager. Being in high school she tried to create the online school where teenagers can learn needed skills for life outside of the classes. Being Ukrainian, Alisa had experienced both European and American systems of education that gives her clear vision of its drawbacks to address them. At MIT, Alisa is on executive board of MIT Entrepreneurship club where she solves problems, develop the brand of the club and makes it better place for startup-minded students. Along with Futures Forge values, she is eager to change the perspective on learning and help students to success.
Rory Myers
Rory Myers is a rising junior at Tufts University. He is a Computer Science major with a passion for education. As a Teaching Assistant for Machine Structure and Organization, Rory works with high-level CS students to help them learn and understand difficult content. He believes that the best way to learn new content is through first-hand experience and problem solving. As product manager for the seven-week game design project, Smoothie Inc., Rory oversaw a six-person team throughout the entire development process. Rory is excited about Futures Forge and passionate about their philosophy/mission. He’s looking forward to facilitating this summer!
George Pygall
George is an undergraduate at the University of Exeter (In the UK) who is graduating May of this year. Throughout his studies, he co-founded an agency to help business owners grow organically and has been involved in sales roles. George has developed skills which most undergrads don’t get the opportunity too; communication, problem-solving and team management to name a few. George’s values strongly align with that at Futures Forge, he was not prepared at High-school or university for the skills which are helping him excel most now. George is excited to help students feel empowered through this journey and prepare them for whatever comes their way.
Kaatje Welsh
Kaatje Welsh is a rising Junior at Tufts University, majoring in Child Studies and Human Development. Throughout her time in high school, she held various mentorship positions, helping her peers work through emotional and educational roadblocks. She has continued to work in similar positions during her time at Tufts, both learning about and providing emotional support to students. Similarly, she is dedicated to the work of expanding educational access, and to promoting encouraging and challenging learning environments. As someone who has experienced unconventional forms of education first-hand, she is excited to facilitate within Future Forge’s innovative learning model!
Daily Structure of the Course
• Overview of a key attribute or skill and why it matters
• Identifying current strengths in these attributes and skills
• Small group research on how they are developed
• Preparing for the small group challenge
• Taking on the challenge!
• Presenting how the group approached the challenge
• Feedback between groups about performance, presentation strength, and what could have gone better
• Group and individual coaching with facilitators to accelerate development in top-priority areas
What Students Get in the Course
• Increased confidence to take on ambiguous, complex challenges in the future
• Improved understanding of how to perform, communicate, give feedback, and work in teams
• Knowledge of how to increase performance and self-motivation
• Understanding of your strengths & development areas in key skills & attributes
• Paths to continuously improve these skills
• Personalized growth plan from the lead facilitators
Learning in the Skills for Success Course
The 2024 Skills for Success Course In Brief
For: Ages 15-19
Scored PSAT 1150+, SAT 1250+, SSAT 80th+, or ACT 25+
(UK: combined score of 63 across GCSE grades or 7+ holistically)
(Other cognitive ability scores are accepted)
When:
June 16 - June 28, 2024
July 7 - July 19, 2024
Where: Boston University, Boston, MA
