Life Changing

When I was sophomore I applied to go to this HOBY conference. I was the student chosen from our school to represent Emery High. I had no idea that this conference would change my life as much as it has. I went to Washington D.C. for the international conference about two months after the state conference. It was the best nine days of my life. I have been volunteering at the state seminar of HOBY for the past five years. I went back as a junior councilor, staff, and this year I was a councilor. It was the most amazing experience of my life. For the past four days I have been trying to figure out if this year was more life changing for me versus the first year. I came to the conclusion that I can't compare the two different experiences. They have both been life changing.

This year I was a councilor and I was also in charge of the junior councilors (JCs). This was a really good experience for me in the fact that I had to go through the whole application process with them, along with trainings, and just being responsible for how they act. This was my first year I was completely solo with this job. First of all, I had to choose nine JCs to come back to HOBY. This is normally pretty easy because we have maybe nine apply. This year I had twenty one apply. I count this as my first success. Never has the Utah seminar had that many students apply. After the whole application process I decided on ten students to bring back. I had involved a couple other people to help me make the selections. Shawna, was one that I had read their essays and Paula helped also. This year I wanted to make sure that I stayed in charge of the JCs at all times and I wanted them to be aware of what their role was. I had to change a lot about how JCs had been trained in the past. It ended up being a very awarding experience as well. The JCs did a very good job at acting like adults and being very responsible. At the end of the conference I got a couple notes from them telling me that I was a good example and I had taught them how to be responsible. It was an incredible feeling. I thought they would all hate me because I had given them rules and responsibilities. Paula, our co chair for HOBY, came up to me at the end of the seminar and told me that I had done a good job and she was happy that I was in that position. It was an incredible feeling to be praised and loved by all who were involved.

Now, my experience as a councilor was amazing. It was much more rewarding than I ever thought was possible. First off, I was scared to death to be a councilor. What if they all hated me? What if I didn't give them the experience that I had. I was very nervous. It amazes me that over a three day period these students could go from looking like deer in the headlights, completely scared out of their minds and become a family. It was so rewarding to watch all of the students come out of their shell in their own time. A couple of the students didn't know what they had gotten themselves into, their first meal there their hands were tied to the person's on both sides of them and they had to eat that way. I don't know what I did or if I did anything to make these students feel comfortable. I look back and I don't think it was me that did anything. These eleven students loved me and respected me and it was a great feeling. Every time I got up to make an announcement or do a skit they were all cheering for me. It made me feel so great and loved.

It made me think of a couple things. We all love having cheerleaders on the sidelines of our lives. Why does this become so important to us? I don't know why, but I think being a cheerleader to all of those people we love is something everyone can work on. How often do we see someone doing a good thing and we become the cheerleader? Maybe we should work on seeing the little things that we can cheer each other for? I don't know if that even makes sense but I think being there for support is all anyone wants. We all need to work on loving people for who they are and cheering them on will be the thing that makes them want to do good. I love that HOBY gives me the opportunity to learn. It is something that makes me realize the world is good and the people in it are good. This is an important lesson for me to learn.

There is a video that I shared with my group on our last day of HOBY. It is called Validation. It is the best video clip you will ever see. I think it shares an important message about being a "cheerleader". I am so thankful I had this opportunity to learn from the students in my group. We became so close and we learned so much from each other. Here is the video. It is so great, and it will teach you a lot. Watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao