HOBY (or Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Seminars) are seminars for high school sophomores to become a better leader of 1) themselves, 2) a group, and 3) their community. Once you go to the seminar, you can come back as a junior staff member and then a senior staff member.

I was a HOBY ambassador in 2011 and have been a junior staff member for the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 Iowa HOBY seminars. I have done some graphic design work for Iowa HOBY in 2013 and 2015 and will be applying to be a senior staff member this year.

Being a HOBY alum in college is outstanding because you have a network of people you know and might run into on your campus. And, you may meet other HOBY alum from out of state seminars.

But here are some signs that you're a HOBY alum.

1. Something is never just “outstanding.” It’s OUTSTANDING. OH! O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G OUT OUT OUTSTANDING. (awwww snap) And you learned a fool-proof way of spelling "outstanding."
2. You are a leader. You lead things. There are people out there that believe that you will achieve great things.
3. You know how to quiet a crowd. When you need a room to quiet down you automatically go “And a hush fell over the crowd hussssssssssssssssh."
4. Service is important. HOBY instills a desire to serve. It helps you get started on your service journey and sticks with you through it.
5. People randomly recognize you from HOBY. My freshman year of college my friend Sam stopped me and said, "Did you go to HOBY?" and I was like "Yeah I did." He recognized me from our ambassador year (2011) because of my hair. (Below is not a picture with my friend Sam, but actually Chris Bowers, one of the speakers that frequently speaks at Iowa HOBY.)
6. Depending on how many seminars you’ve been to/volunteered at you have a HUGE network of friends around the state/country/world.This is awesome because when your friends need help or connections, you can be like "hey I know somebody that is doing this!" and you can make that connection.
7. Seminar season is the best season. Break out the white or navy or light blue or green polo! The cheering, the atmosphere. It's OUTSTANDING. You get to reconnect with people you've met and get to volunteer in welcoming others into the HOBY family.
8. You know a good speaker when you hear them. Whether it's a comedic speaker or a speaker with a serious message, HOBY always brings in some good speakers that are fulfilling even to people on staff. (Below is with speaker Jamie Utt, the developer of "The Wall" presentation.)
9. No judgement, ever. HOBY is a no judgement zone and you can really be yourself there. HOBY formed who I am today and really got me out of my comfort zone. It also made me feel comfortable in my own skin and not care what people think.
10. It is NOT pronounced "HOBBY." It irks you when people who’ve never gone to HOBY call it “HOBBY” NO. IT IS HOBY. Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership.
11. There’s a sort of energy that you possess. You are ALIVE AWAKE ALERT ENTHUSIASTIC. Since seminar is so fast-paced, you have to keep up with it somehow. And an energetic person is perfect for the team.
12. You know a lot of random cheers. From "Singing in the Rain" to "Baby Shark" to "Sizzle" you know a lot of cheers. You also know a lot of icebreakers and games. (Just a heads up some of those are handy in student organizations for get-to-know-you meetings and such.)
13. You know how to perform on little sleep. What is sleep? With the three-day HOBY experience you quickly learn how to keep up on marginal amounts of sleep and high energy. It's like it prepared you for college.
14. You're super supportive of your friends. And your friends are supportive of you. This is especially true if you're in their town for an event or if they're in your town for something. Or if you end up at the same event somewhere or the same college.
15. HOBY Hugs. There's nothing better than a good HOBY hug!

If you're a HOBY alum, you're pretty OUTSTANDING. If you've never heard of HOBY, look it up: even if you didn't get the opportunity to be an ambassador your sophomore year of high school, you can still apply to be a senior staff member (as long as you're 21 or over).

HOBY was created by Hugh O'Brian in 1958 and has seminar locations in 100 countries across the world.

For more information you can go to www.hoby.org