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| Aleigha Lockhart (Intern), Miriam Esquivel (LHCDC) and Ethan Houser (Intern) |
On July 30th I had the opportunity to attend the
ending ceremony for the Youth Leadership Development program through the North
Carolina Community Development Initiative which is based in Raleigh. Through
the program high school seniors from all over the state apply for the opportunity
to intern with community development corporations in their communities. This
allows the students to not only help to better their communities but to also gain
leaderships skills that will be beneficial for
them in the near future.
When I first arrived I walked into a room that was filled
with twenty-six rising high school seniors, their families, and representatives
from their host intern sites. It was refreshing to see a group of young people
who were so passionate about bettering the state of their communities and spent
a portion of their summer doing so when they could have easily been doing
anything else. Without even knowing the majority of the students I got the vibe
that to them their internships were more than just internships. I felt that they
truly enjoyed what they had done and the things that they had learned this
summer. This was confirmed when the director of the initiative recognized one
of the students individually. She explained that because of a lack of spaces at
the host sites they were unable to accept the student into the internship
program. The student did not let this deter her from doing what she wanted to
do. Though she was not accepted into the internship program the student decided
that she was going to volunteer at the host site in her community. This really
stood out to me, this student was so passionate about what she wanted to do
that she didn’t let one small hiccup get in her way.
The keynote speaker, Dr. Rev. Stacatto Powell gave a short
but powerful speech that I feel was received by everyone that was listening. He
first congratulated the students on taking the first step to being a leader in
the future by being a part of the internship program. He went on to say that no
matter what obstacles may arise to use your will power and continue you pursing
your goals and stay on the path to success. He also touched on being different
from those around you. He talked about how being different from others may seem
like a hardship during high school but you will appreciate our differences as
you get older and realize the differences that you did not appreciate when you
were younger are what truly sets you apart from others and that you could
benefit from them.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ending ceremony. I left there
motivated and ready to work hard and to take all the steps necessary to ensure
my success in the future.
