Whether or not the conferences could run smoothly was somewhat dependent on how I structured the self surveys. Ultimately, I hoped they would achieve the following characteristics:

• Short - I wanted students to be able to complete them in 5-10 minutes.
• Engaging & approachable - I didn't want students to disengage either due to a skill issue (struggling to respond thoroughly through writing) or a will issue. Because of this, I incorporated a social, academic, and resilience aspect.
• Flexible - While some students feel free to dive deep with the personal component of the self surveys, I didn't want to obligate students to any kind of vulnerability. Thus, I needed questions to be malleable: students could discuss their relationship with their parent or they could share their favorite basketball team. Either way, it was developing our relationship.

The idea of incorporating positive self statements was spurred on by my belief that self-efficacy is often the missing ingredient when students are inhibited by trauma-induced shame and apathy. I hoped that students could develop both metacognitive skills and self-evaluative skills while speaking hope into their own lives. A lot of the mantras are cheesy phrases one might see on the bumper of an optimist's vehicle. A few of them could easily be heard shouted in the middle of a huddle during a sporting event. I assembled a list of phrases and then asked a few of my students to delete the ones that were painfully corny. Below, you'll find the resulting list.