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HOBY rep learns true meaning of leadership
What
does it mean to be a leader? Is a leader someone in charge telling
others what to do?
Ask IHS junior Lauren Belfast, and chances are she will give you a far different definition. For her, a leader is someone who demonstrates the ability to stand with conviction combined with the willingness to serve. To Lauren, a leader is someone worth following.
Lauren learned many of her leadership lessons at the Hugh O'Brien Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminar held last June at Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. The week-long event encouraged her and 200 other high school sophomores to develop their personal skills in service to others.
It was a great week.
She and her team learned to run a business—from developing a concept to manufacturing a product to marketing. The group took a paper tube, filled it with beads, capped the ends with balls, labeled and brightly colored it. They named the noisemaker the "Spirit Stick."
More importantly, she gained new confidence—how to speak with new people, the importance of posture and of speaking loudly and clearly, and that a firm handshake sends a positive message.
Several guest speakers told of their own lives and how their experiences led them to a place of leadership and community service. Lauren's favorite was a Jamaican woman sprinter who has used her world-class status to advance important social causes in her homeland.
Making a difference
The HOBY crew also learned a practical lesson in service. All 200 students descended on a Troy park to get it ready for summer visitors. The students spent the afternoon picking up the litter and raking the leaves.
Lauren is not a stranger to hard work and success. She is a member of the national honor society and a distance runner on the school's cross country and indoor and outdoor track teams. And even she confesses that HOBY was life-changing.
"I speak more comfortably with people I don't know and I'm not so shy. And I'm more interested in community service," she said.
She was a little nervous when she first arrived on the RPI campus, but the counselors soon put her at ease with their encouraging words and cheers.
"People acted like a family," she said.
She hopes that Ilion's next HOBY representative comes away with the same feelings she did. To that end, she offered some advice.
"Don't get scare when you first get there; they're all nice people. And don't be afraid to be yourself. That's one thing they will help you look for—'who's you,'" she laughed.
