Washington Leadership Conference 2017

Upon my return from Washington Leadership Conference(which is a 5 day long event for FFA members and is held in our nation's capital), I have done a fair share of reflecting on the experiences I encountered. When I first arrived at the Omni-Shoreham at the Woodley Park metro stop, I didn't really know what to expect. My older sister, Jacqueline, attended the conference a few years prior, so I knew the focal point would be on service, but other than that, I had set little expectations of the week to come. After registering, I found a student who was from my area back in Missouri, and sat down at his table. Little did I know, that at that moment in time, I would embark on the week of a lifetime. 

Over the course of those short-but long- five days I learned a lot about myself and how I want to lead my life.

The FFA motto:

Learning to Do,

Doing to Learn,

Earning to Live,

Living to Serve

"Living to Serve," that is the line that we focused on during our time at WLC. With around 350 students in attendance, it was awe-inspiring to meet FFA members, from all across the country, who gathered to learn how they can be servers in their own communities. To be a piece of a puzzle that big and that beautiful was truly awesome. At WLC, every person there, whether it be a student or facilitator, focused on harnessing their energy into making the world a better place.

I learned in that task the diversity that is needed to better the world. Some students made Living to Serve plans that involved feeding the world, like me, and others had simpler outlooks. Some decided to do random acts of kindness each day, while others planned on accomplishing one big event, like a canned food drive. Just like there are so many parts that make a clock tick, there are also many actions needed to serve a community. I learned that while we were very diverse, we all came together to unite as one when a task was thrown our way. For instance, one night, all 350 of us, were sitting around a large, blocked off space in the middle of the room. In each corner of the rectangle in the center of the room, bouncy balls, or globes, were dumped out. Each tub littered hundreds of globes to signify the different needs we have in the world. Soon, there were thousands of globes littering the room, and we were expected to clean up the mess. This is when I learned that each person has a role to play in service. There were people lifting us up, shouting encouraging words, but there were also people tearing us down, saying  we will never be able to achieve our goal. They dumped out our filled buckets, and pushed us back. But us students, as one, united our efforts to overcome the negativity and clean up all the globes that littered the ballroom. Everyone played a huge part in that inspiring task. Alone, it would've taken hours to pick up the mess, but together, it only took a few minutes.

At WLC, I discovered my desire to be someone who leads others in helping people. Someone who dedicates their life to the well-being of others and someone who makes people feel inspired. People enjoy being around people who make them feel good, which is exactly how I hope I impact others, and will continue to do so.

Whether I was visiting the White House, packaging meals for people in need in the D.C. area, or even just being a teenager with students from across the country, serving others was always in the back of my mind. That's what it means to be a server. You don't have to be volunteering or donating money 24/7, you just have to always have the intention of making the world a better place to live in. Sometimes sharing a good laugh with friends is all that a person needs to feel loved. Whether your action be big or small, your impact can be huge to one person, and you may not even know it.