Camps

Psyched for Success: Building your Interpersonal Skills (Beirut Campus)

Objective

This camp aims to support students in strengthening their interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills through engaging, psychology-based activities, fostering self-awareness, empathy, and ethical communication in the digital AI age.

Summary

This week-long Psychology BootCamp for students in grades 9–12 offers an interactive exploration of how we connect, listen, and understand one another. Through hands-on sessions, self-assessment tools, and creative activities, students will discover their communication styles, practice assertiveness and empathy, and learn to navigate bias, emotion regulation, and nonverbal cues. The camp also introduces the ethical use of AI as a communication partner, inviting students to reflect on how technology influences their interpersonal interaction. By the end of the week, each participant will have built a personal portfolio and presented their insights on self-awareness, connection, and growth, for the chance to win a scholarship at LAU.

Location

Fouad Makhzoumi Innovation Center (FMIC), Irwin, 6th Floor

Tentative program

Monday, July 13
Know your Communication Style

Time Activity Champion
8.15am – 9.00am Registration + Breakfast  
9.00am – 10.00am Meet and Greet Icebreaker  
10.00am – 12.00pm Know your Communication Style

Students will explore different communication styles through self-assessment and group interaction. They will identify their own strengths and challenges, learning how to adapt their style for clearer, more effective connections.

Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah
12.00pm – 1.00pm Lunch  
1.00pm – 2.30pm AI your Communication Buddy: Ethics and Safety

This session introduces AI as a modern communication partner. Students will discuss ethical considerations, privacy, and emotional awareness when using AI tools, reflecting on how technology shapes the way we interact.

Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah

 

 

Tuesday, July 14
Listening and Being Heard

Time Activity Champion
8.15am – 8.45am Breakfast  
8.45am – 10.45am Are you Really Listening?

Through experiential listening exercises, students will learn to differentiate between hearing and active listening. The session emphasizes empathy, attention, and understanding as keys to meaningful communication.

 
10.45am – 11.15am Break  
11.15am – 12.45pm Being Heard: Practice Assertiveness

Students will practice expressing their thoughts confidently and respectfully in various scenarios. This hands-on session highlights the balance between assertiveness, empathy, and respect for others’ perspectives.

 
12.45pm – 1.45pm Lunch (with SDEM/Financial Aid)  
1.45pm – 2.45pm Portfolio Pia Tohme

Wednesday, July 15
Empathy, Perspective Taking, and Regulation

Time Activity Champion
8.15am – 8.45am Breakfast  
8.45am – 10.45am Empathy and Bias in Perspective Taking: the Art of Story Telling

Using storytelling and role-play, participants will explore how empathy helps us see beyond our biases. They will practice perspective-taking and reflect on how narratives influence understanding and connection.

 
10.45am – 11.15am Break  
11.15am – 12.45pm Self-Regulation: How do I Affect Others?

This session focuses on emotional awareness and regulation in social situations. Students will learn strategies to manage emotions, respond constructively, and recognize how their moods and reactions impact others.

 
12.45pm – 1.45pm Lunch  
1.45pm – 2.45pm Portfolio Pia Tohme

 

 

Thursday, July 16
Me, Myself, and the World around Me

Time Activity Champion
8.15am – 8.45am Breakfast  
8.45am – 10.45am Stereotypes and Social Cues: How I See Others?

Students will examine how stereotypes and first impressions shape social interactions. Through guided activities, they will practice noticing and challenging biased interpretations of others’ behavior.

 
10.45am – 11.15am Break  
11.15am – 12.45pm Decoding Nonverbal Behaviors: Silent Stories  

In this interactive workshop, students will analyze body language, facial expressions, and tone to understand the unspoken side of communication. They will practice reading and sending nonverbal cues effectively.

 
12.45pm – 1.45pm Lunch (with Honors Program)  
1.45pm – 2.45pm Portfolio Pia Tohme

Friday, July 17
Bringing it all Together, AI are you Talking to Me?

Time Activity Champion
8.15am – 8.45am Breakfast  
8.45am – 10.15am Who Learned it better, AI or I?

In this reflective closing session, students will compare human and AI communication skills through a creative challenge. They’ll evaluate what makes human interaction unique and present insights from their week-long learning journey.

Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah
10.15am – 10.30am Break  
10.30am – 12.00pm Prepping you Portfolio Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah
12.00pm – 12.30pm Lunch  
12.30pm – 2pm Pitch and Competition  Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah
2 pm – 2.45pm Wrap up activity – What did you learn about you, your friends, and what do you want to tell them? Pia Tohme & Sara Sabbah

2025 Highlights