UNM-LA Offers Designing Your Life Course

Nicole-Lloyd-RonningDr. Nicole Lloyd-Ronning, a continuing faculty member at UNM-LA and also a staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will teach Designing Your Life, FYEX1110 this spring at UNM-LA. Photo by Nancy Coombs/UNM-LA

UNM-LA NEWS

UNM-LA will offer “Designing Your Life,” course beginning on March 23, meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12 – 1 p.m. The course is based on the book, “Designing Your Life” by Stanford University professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Burnett and Evans developed a series of exercises to help students engage in ‘design thinking,’ a strategy typically used to improve a product or experience. The practices taught in the class can help people reframe beliefs that surround life and career decisions, and help participants discover alternate paths to pursue in their lives.

Dr. Nicole Lloyd-Ronning will facilitate the course. Lloyd-Ronning, a continuing faculty member at UNM-LA and also a staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, envisions a highly interactive format, with class time focused on written exercises and discussions. Lloyd-Ronning reflected, “The students who participated in this course last year reported that the exercises and the class discussions really helped them clarify ideas about their future plans.”

UNM-LA Chancellor Dr. Cindy Rooney noted, “This course is designed for college students, as well as those interested in re-entering the workforce, changing their career or finding their next adventure after retirement.”

Evans and Burnett teach that curiosity and experimentation are fundamental components of developing new possibilities for change in one’s life. Learning to reframe problems, which can open up new possibilities for solutions, and working collaboratively are also important in the process of cultivating new options.

Seminar: Designing Your Life, FYEX1110 will meet from March 23 – May 6, 2020 on the UNM-LA campus. For information about registering for this or any other UNM-LA class, call 505-662-5919 or visit Student Services in Building 1 on the UNM-LA campus. To view the schedule, please visit  losalamos.unm.edu/academics/class-schedule.html.

UNM-Los Alamos is an innovative, rigorous, and affordable comprehensive branch community college that provides foundations for transfer, leading-edge career programs, and lifelong learning opportunities. More information about UNM – Los Alamos is available at losalamos.unm.edu.