Last month, as a youth council, we had an amazing opportunity to go to a three day leadership training. It was amazing and inspirational! This year the theme was rise above, stand together, be the good. We got to hear from wonderful speakers that taught us how to do these things.

Rise Above

We learned that to rise above we need to set goals for the future and not dwell on the past.

The first night there was a hypnotist, Shawn Paulsen. His show was fantastic! What made his show interesting is that he is blind and has a terminal illness, but he didn’t let this pull him down.Instead he took the opportunity to rise above and learn how to still do what he loves.

Stand Together

At this conference we got to listen to Steve McKell. He was kidnapped at gunpoint when hewas 15. He was a quick thinker and was able to escape captivity. He taught us when we stand together and help each other we are able to overcome the trials of life.

Be the Good

At this training we had the chance to split up and meet with other youth from different councils. As new groups we got to participate in different service projects. Some groups went to retirement homes and played games with the elderly, some collected donations for the food bank or helped with an after school reading program. My team went to Zootah and cleared the paths of snow, sticks, leaves and other debris. It was so fun to see how much good we could all accomplish in such little time. One speaker, Dan Davis, spoke about following our gut. If we follow our gut, we can be the good. When we are the good, we change the world.

It was such an amazing conference and I was able to learn how to become a better leader and person. I was also able to meet many new and awesome people. I even got to eat dinner with Rusty Lindquist, one of the speakers. He taught us that we can achieve anything as long as we believe in ourselves and we don’t let anyone weigh us down.