"We Must Because We...CAN!"

WARNING: this post is long one! hang in there with me :)

As you all know from my last post, we have started a fundraiser selling tshirts.  I posted a link to my blog as my facebook status and the feedback was utterly AMAZING!  I spent last summer traveling the country and going to leadership conferences and the responses from people who I met while attending them brought tears to my eyes!  I was able to go to Seattle, Washington with the Alexander Hamilton Friends Association and Washington D.C. with the FFA organization.  At both of these conferences I met some of the most amazing people.

Here is a rundown of the two weeks I spent devoted to learning how to better myself as well as my community, country, and world.

In  Seattle I worked with 26 other graduated high school students from around the country.  We worked on personal development plans, learned about Alexander Hamilton, spent time getting to know each other, and saw a lot of the sites in Seattle.  During this week we talked about where we want to go in life and how we are going to get there.  We also learned a lot about goal setting and why it is so important.  However, I think that the most important thing I got out of the week was the friendships I made with the 26 other students as well as the awesome adults who run and work at the organization. 

In Washington D.C. I spent the week seeing some of America's most famous monuments, learning what it means to be a true citizen, and meeting some of the most dedicated FFA members I will ever know.  I also walked away from this week with some absolutely amazing friendships that will last me forever. You may be wondering what the title of this post has to do with what I am actually writing.  Well, before we started any session at WLC (Washington Leadership Conference) our group leaders would take turns starting our chant... they would say "We must because we..." and we would respond with a thunderous "CAN!" Nothing gets you more fired up about helping people like being in a room full of 500 FFA members who are learning how they CAN make a difference!

After posting information about my trip to Sierra Leone on facebook I received emails and facebook messages from some of my friends in both of the organizations.  My heart was genuinely touched by their generosity and spirit for helping others.  I think that it is absolutely outstanding that there are other young people out there with a passion and desire to help those whom they have never even met or heard of before.

While the leadership conferences that I attended may have only lasted a week... the friendships I made while I was there will last me a lifetime.  I would like to say thank you to the following people from the Summer of 2010 for the way that they impacted my life by instilling in me the passion to continue helping those in need simply because it is the right thing to do.

From Alexander Hamilton Friends:
George and Puddin
Joslin and Evan
Melanie and Teyloure
Arthur
Erika
Meredith
Connie
Chris
Jenelle
Bea
Brad
Kelly
Mackenzie
Steve
Carter
Brittne
Zack
Mitch
Georgia
Hannah
Caitlin
Eileen
Elena
Abhiraj
Avni
Cindy
Brady


From WLC:
Kirby
Dillon
Addie
Charlie
Nicholas
Hallie
Megan
Margaret
Ashley


Thank you to you all for your love and support! Because of you my Personal Development Plan from Seattle is coming true and my Live To Serve plan from D.C. has definitely begun its process!

I will end with another poem/song from my week at WLC:

Authentic Leaders
Know your purpose... it starts with me.
Value people... it moves to we. 
Take action... means to do.
Serve others... take me, we, you!


Now how are you going to be an authentic leader?