Leaders Unite!

I had the most awesome experience this past weekend!  As a student at Texas Wesleyan University, I am a Hatton Sumners Scholar, which provided me with the honor of attending their annual Student Leadership Conference at the University of Texas at Austin.  WOW!  I honestly had no idea what to expect because well, let's be honest, I am MUCH older than most of the students who were attending.  I was honestly afraid that I wouldn't have much to discuss with these kids...man was I wrong!

First off, let me start by saying that I was blessed with the most fantastic team.  Yes, the majority of them were much younger than me, but that did not stop them from welcoming and accepting me anyway.  And it was so cool to meet these students that came from all over the country and Mexico!  In the end, regardless of our ages, we were all there for the same reason:  we were selected by our universities as future leaders.  This was all we needed to connect and form a bond.  And boy did we!  We laughed, we cried, we gave a phenomenal karaoke performance...the best of all the teams in my opinion.

But it was not all fun and games.  We had the opportunity to hear great speakers talk about leadership and expecting more of ourselves so that we always lead by example.  These speakers inspired me to never give up because as I have always believed, anything worth having is working hard for.  We also took workshops and learned what our own strengths are.  Mine did not surprise me very much.  My number one strength is "belief," which basically means that I am guided by my beliefs and values--which for anyone that knows me, knows how very true this is.  At the end of the conference, we participated in a goal setting exercise that we are supposed to implement after coming home.  I made my goal about managing my time better.  As a wife, mother of two kids, and full-time student, this is not something I have done very well with.  I always get my stuff done, sometimes it's just very last minute.  I want to do it more efficiently so that I can be more productive both at school and at home.  After announcing my goal to my team, they made me cry!  They were so sweet.  They told me that I was an inspiration to them and that I should be proud of all I have accomplished.  To hear that from this group of "kids" that had only known me for a few days made my heart smile.  It truly did make me feel like it's all worthwhile.

After three days with this awesome group of future leaders (and all the ones that were not in my group that I had the chance to get to know as well), I feel as if I can do anything.  So I thank them for that.  I thank them for their friendship, I thank them for the laughs, and most of all I thank them for a weekend I will never forget.  It was amazing!