Alumni Essay 14

Since having the privilege to join Youth Lead KC, I have seen many changes within myself. I was able to join as a freshman, who didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. As a freshman, my priorities were not where they should have been. After my first field trip with Youth Lead, I was able to get new priorities into my mind. I understood that what I did as a freshman would eventually impact my getting into college. After finding this out, I decided I needed to make a stronger dedication to my schoolwork. In which I did, I started to study harder and ended my freshman year with a 4.0. I was also able to realize how much impact networking can have on someone’s life. After we were able to meet other students who went to different schools, but were in my grade level, I understood that there was a lot more out there than just my school. After learning how to properly introduce myself, I started to do so more. When I would meet someone, I would use the elevator pitch that I learned in my sophomore year. Who knew this small tool would help me with so much? I was able to use this pitch with my school counselor one day. That small conversation ended with me being signed up for our school’s CNA program for my senior year. This tool opened up a lot for me, and genuinely made me realize I wanted to become a nurse. With this, it was very helpful to have a lot of the resources that Youth Lead KC has had for me. Leadership is a very important skill, and I have grown in many ways in my leadership skills. After being introduced to so many new people, I was able to understand how important being confident in yourself truly is. If you come off as a confident person than people will be very open to working with you or getting to know you. After going to many Youth Lead field trips, I have been able to develop a new sense of confidence in myself and my public speaking. I will use all of these skills in my future. Being able to speak and introduce myself clearly and confidently is definitely a good skill to have. Also, being able to listen and collaborate with others is a skill I know will be extremely important, and I am so glad I had the chance to make these skills better. To me, leaving a legacy means being able to leave behind something that is remembered and respected. If you do something very important to a foundation or school, you will be remembered for a good legacy. In my opinion, it does not have to be only an academic legacy. If you are someone who is respectful and makes someone feel good about themselves, that is a great legacy to leave. Living a life where you make others feel pride in themselves, confident, and helpful to others is something that creates a legacy for people to want to follow in, which I feel is very important. Youth Lead is a program that has helped me grow in many ways that I am very thankful for. Being in it since freshman year has been so impactful and has helped me become the person I am today.