On September 21-24 I attended a three-day RYLA conference on leadership sponsored by Rotary International, an organization dedicated to taking action on the world’s most persistent problems. It is an experience that I recommend to everyone.

Students are selected by a local Rotary Club to attend an all-expense paid three-day leadership conference known as RYLA. It’s a conference designed to build character, teamwork, leadership and personal development. The “award” part of RYLA is a scholarship provided by a local Rotary Club so that a participant may attend camp.

Rotary International sponsors Interact clubs in schools all over the world, including the Interact Club at Judge. Once a year they sponsor three interested students, and take them to Aspen Grove, Utah, which is in Provo Canyon. At RYLA this year there were about 150 kids from schools all around Utah.

In the spring of 2021 I applied to be one of the students to get sponsored to go, and this fall I found out that I was one out of the three students picked. When I got there they told us to write our names on our bags and place them in our assigned section. After they gave us dinner, which was pizza, they had us listen to a speaker, and do an activity to find out what personality color we are. At the end of the day we went into our sections and introduced ourselves, found out where the rooms were, and went to bed. At the conference you get assigned a room with everyone who came from your school. The rooms were kind of like dorms: they had a room with bunk beds, another room with a queen sized bed, a little living room area, and a bathroom.

The next morning we had to wake up at 6:30 a.m. so we could get ready and head to the main lodge to have breakfast at 7:00 a.m. RYLA is a leadership conference where we have different speakers and activities to improve our leadership. Right after breakfast we had an introduction to our groups, who we would be with for the next three days. We listened to speakers, participated in lunch activities, had dinner and were in bed at 10 p.m. The same routine continues for each of the three days.

It was strange to be with a bunch of people who you appear to have nothing in common with. Most people there were from Southern Utah and had completely different views from me. I had a good experience learning how to become friends with people who you will only know for three days. It was hard at times, obviously some people had views different than mine. Regardless, I made tons of friends that I have talked to daily since RYLA ended.

It was really fun meeting so many new people, but also very nerve-racking because I’m not a very social person. Even though it was fun I definitely struggled. It was hard having to have no down time.

The time I spent at RYLA taught me how important it is to know how to be a good leader. It taught me how to become a better leader, to be able to talk to people, and make friends in whatever situation I come into contact with. I honestly had way more fun than I was expecting to. The speakers were also very interesting, and I’m glad I was able to hear their stories. I didn’t expect for them to be entertaining, but the speakers all knew how to make their talk interesting.

I think more people should go on this trip.