Like most people nowadays, I had to do community service when I was in high school. And, like most high school students, I didn’t really have an interest in what I was doing to help the community. I used to volunteer at my church as a Sunday school teacher, and I had fun teaching Kindergarten for four years because I thought, back then, that I might want to do something with children. While that was an enjoyable experience, I wasn’t really getting the feeling that I was making an impact on anyone’s lives.
When I was 15, my mom saw an ad in the paper for a leadership camp on the Cape sponsored by our local Rotary club, and told me I should apply to go. And, like most high school kids nowadays hoping to go to college, I figured I might as well give it a shot. It’d look good on a college application, right? I was accepted into the program, which was called RYLA, and spent a weekend surrounded by people I had never met before -- something that was completely out of my comfort zone. When I was 15, I was not the type to talk to strangers -- I wasn’t even the type to talk to classmates unless they talked to me first. And yet here I was, 50-miles from home without a safe person in sight. It was terrifying...at first. By the time the camp ended, everyone had developed a sense of friendship with one another, and I had developed a purpose.
I applied to come back as one of the camp leaders the following year, and as a director the year after that. My fourth year, I came back as an executive director, and this year -- my fifth year involved in the program — I developed my own position as a student mentor to the other students planning the program. I have noticed a huge change in myself ever since I first began, back when I was 15.
When I was 14, if you had asked me to get up and speak in front of a small group of adults about something, I would’ve either laughed or cried, or done both. Through my involvement in Rotary and their youth camp, I’ve not only learned how to get through a presentation, but I have grown comfortable with it as well. I have spoken at many Rotary meetings and conferences as one of, if not the youngest person, in the room, as if I was one of the rotarians. I’ve joined other planning committees, getting as involved as I can. And through it all, I’ve stayed committed to RYLA.
By discovering this program, and all the different avenues I could take to help develop not only myself, but the camp as a whole, I’ve discovered a purpose for myself. This is something that young people need; something that makes them feel like they are needed and important, like they’re making a difference. I have struggled with the idea that I don’t have a purpose, that I am not needed or important, and that I will never make a difference for most of my adolescent life. By involving myself in my community, and by throwing myself into it as far as I can go, I’ve proven to myself that this is not the case.
I’ve learned a lot about my community through my work in service over the past few years. I’ve developed amazing friendships with my fellow mentors and directors. I’ve participated in service projects these leaders organize to help people on both a local and global scale. And, most importantly to me, I have watched how students every year come back and grow as leaders. It amazes me to see these high school students in the same place I once was, and to know that these kids are the future leaders of our communities. And, even more than that, it amazes me to know that I had a hand in helping them realize their potential as leaders.
