NYLSC

NYLSC is the National Young Leaders State Conference that Katya was nominated for last year and one of the two trips we have been pinching our pennies for. Katya has been recycling cans, babysitting, washing cars, walking dogs and doing anything else she can think of to earn money for these trips.

Well, the trip was last Thursday to Sunday (yesterday) and it appears to have been everything we could have hoped for and more.

I flew with Katya to Seattle Thursday morning and Michelle picked us up from the airport along with another mom and her son that were also going to the conference (the ONLY other person from Central Oregon at the conference). The conference was held at the Hilton Bellevue and it was a good thirty minute drive from the airport. Michelle stayed with the truck while I got Katya checked in.

There were scared looking teenagers all dressed up in their idea of business casual (more like business formal) with their parents walking beside them. I got Katya checked in with the extremely nice woman at the registration table and once Katya was changed into her dress clothes I left her at the door to one of the banquet rooms and her terrified eyes were starting to think that she would change her mind until I kissed her, hugged her and pushed her into the room. That was basically the last I heard from her for the entire time she was there. Trust me, had she hated it at ALL my phone would have been full of texts telling me how awful it was. As it was, she only responded to one text and she basically said she was having an amazing time and couldn't talk because she was going to the trivia night event.

When I returned on Sunday morning to attend her commencement program I saw her briefly walk by all dressed up with a smile on her face and surrounded by some new friends. The commencement was fun and it was full of hooting teens cheering on the few teen speakers that were up there at the podium. You wouldn't have expected teens to cheer on other teens that were talking about the importance of integrity, the value of feedback and resolving conflicts with mutual respect and understanding.

I am not normally the most emotional of people as I tend to keep my feelings pretty much inside. But, I was getting really teary eyed looking around at all the kids - the future of our country - and I couldn't have been more proud. My daughter was one of the kids in this crowd that worked really hard to get there by getting exceptional grades, being considered a leader and mentor by a teacher and saving her pennies for so many months. She is an exceptional young woman and I can't believe that I had something to do with her being the awesome person she is.

Katya told me that she feels this event changed her for the better. We went through the entire huge booklet that she used during the conference and much of it were ideas that I first heard at my management bootcamp classes at UCSD. What an amazing experience. Now Katya has her sights set on the Inagural Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. next January. We'll have to see about that one.