On Wednesday, July 25th, eight teenagers including myself, went on a trip to Potomac, Maryland. We left around 10 in the morning and arrived at the William F. Bolger Center around 5 that evening. Everyone settled into their rooms and then toured the campus there to learn the way around. My friends and I went to the indoor pool and decided to swim around until it was it was almost closing time. The next day, we ate breakfast then got onto buses and vans to go tour the U.S. Capitol building. There, we met our state senators, Thom Tillis and Richard Burr. I really enjoyed meeting them because we got to ask them questions, like how they got started in politics.
When we got back to the Bolger center, we gathered at the Franklin building to meet some people who would be speaking to us over the next few days. After we met them, we went to the Osgood building to join the dance they were hosting for us. It was a lot of fun because we met new people and everyone was enjoying the dance. My favorite part about this trip was what came next.
Friday and Saturday consisted of very inspirational conferences. There were several different speakers there, all with their own message. Not only did I get to learn more about what to expect in a mentor/mentee relationship, but I also learned how to be a better leader in life. I was really moved and took their advice to heart. I learned that it does not matter where you come from or how bad your life has been, you can always succeed in life if you really try. During these conferences, the people who spoke kept all of us entertained and made sure we were engaged in the presentation.
On the last day, we had a closing ceremony. During this, kids from different PAL chapters got a chance to speak up and tell everyone what they learned and what they will be taking home with them. This was really inspirational and I loved hearing from my peers the different things that they really appreciated and how they were going to put them into action when they got back home. I plan on telling everyone I know about the different ways we can be leaders and come together to help improve our communites. I really encourage more youth involvment in our communites and hope that we can all come together to make a difference.
