A Leader to be: Leadership Forum in Washington D.C.

 

By A. Keshia Untung

 

 

            Leadership is the ability to lead, and to lead means to show the way for others. What does it take to be a good leader? I learned how to be a great leader when I went to Washington D.C. and participated in People to People World Leadership Forum (P. P. W. L. F.) for a week. Although I was still a sixth grader, I had to travel without my parents so I was a little nervous for such an adventure. But at the same time I felt lucky because I got such a wonderful opportunity and traveling alone made me more independent.

I joined P. P. W. L. F because when I was a student at Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School, my fifth-grade teacher nominated me to the program. This leadership program is founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The program was one week long and took place during my spring break 2007 (April 1st - April 8th). It has contributed tremendously to my learning experience.

 The forum was held at Washington D.C., but it is also hosted in other places. It is held at Washington D.C., because it is the capital city of the United States. There are a lot of museums, monuments, and memorials that people can learn from.

            The program had about 1,152 delegates, so there were four hotels hosting them. I stayed at the Hyatt Dulles. Each delegate had two roommates. My roommates were Casey and Esther. Casey is from Georgia and Esther is from South Africa. Some delegates came as far as Korea and South Africa. In Washington D.C., we explored the capital city with groups that consist of twelve student leaders each.

We traveled Washington D.C. by buses that contain four groups, four group leaders, and one instructor. The instructor was also acting as the tour guide, and he pointed important things out during our bus rides. Most of the points he covered in his explanations were about the past leaders of North America, and how they rose up to the challenges to become great leaders. He told us how their leadership helped America during hard times.

There are many ways to become a leader that I learned at the forum. To be a leader, we have to be a follower and a listener. We cannot be bossy. Leaders listen to and involve others. They solve conflicts, and work in teams. One of my favorite leaders is Teddy Roosevelt. He was physically disabled, but he had the intelligence and courage to lead the country during the worst time.

             At the forum our instructors gave us opportunities to work together and solve problems. For example, we as a group had to make up a skit about one of leadership qualities namely fairness. Some people did not want to participate, so there was a disagreement among us and a problem occurred. That is a real life situation where there should be a leader who should step in to handle the problem. We as a team had to work and compromise. The program taught us how to be leaders, and step up to the challenge!!

            The program was a bit tiring, but it was really fun. We visited very exciting places; some were more serious than others. We explored the museums, memorials, monuments, important landmarks, and listened to guest speakers. We visited the offices of the Congressional Representatives on the first day of the program. We visited the office of the representative Congresswoman Diane E. Watson. Unfortunately she was not there, so we talked to her assistant Abdul instead. He told us all about his background, and how his dad inspired him to work for the government.

            On Monday and Tuesday mornings (April 2nd and April 3rd) at the hotel during breakfast we had two speakers. One was Ronald Sarasin, and he was a former representative and president of historical monuments society. He talked about the historical places and preservations in Washington D.C. The other one was Kory Irby, and he talked about his work as a secret service agent whose job is to protect the President of the US.

            Aside from the leadership lessons, we also had a lot of fun. We visited many interesting museums in D.C.; one of them was the famous Smithsonian. The other museums we visited were the Spy Museum and the Holocaust Museum. We also visited many memorials and monuments, like the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Memorial, and we went to the Capitol Building. We also went to my favorite museum on Tuesday (April 3rd), the National Museum of Natural History. It was an amazing museum. There were a lot of animal statues, and the museum kept the biggest diamond in the world. It was priceless.         

For dinner on Tuesday (April 3rd), we were invited for dinner at the Saudi Arabia Embassy. At the Embassy, we listened to a very nice presentation by the officials from the Embassy about Saudi Arabia. We learned about how the country gets most of their income through gas. We also learned about their religion and traditional clothing. After the presentation, we ate their traditional foods.

            On Wednesday (April 4th), we visited the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the place where a part of the civil war took place for three days non-stop. We had to wake up early to travel from D.C. to the Gettysburg. It was amazing to see where this controversial battle was fought. We ate lunch at a buffet restaurant that long time ago was a place that participated in the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a route that helped free the slaves from their masters. We spent the whole day traveling and visiting America’s amazing landmarks. It was a long day, but I was glad we made those inspiring visits.

            On Thursday (April 5th), we visited more museums and memorials. On Friday (April 6th), we woke up early again and traveled to Virginia. In Virginia, we went to Williamsburg and Jamestown.  We visited Williamsburg first. It was the thriving capital of Virginia when the dream of American freedom and independence took place. At that time the colony was a rich and powerful land stretching west to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. We saw how people lived in the colonial times. It was extremely strict; no technology, no plumbing, and no women rights. It was great though to see that historical place. And what’s more? It had the best candy store!!

            After Williamsburg, we visited Jamestown. Jamestown is known to be the first permanent English settlement in America. We went there and saw the galleries. In the galleries we saw the ways the Native Americans and pilgrims lived. We saw their houses and how they were set up. We also saw the boats they sailed from England.

            Saturday (April 7th) was pretty much our last day with the program. In the morning, we saw some more of Washington D.C. In the afternoon, we had a goodbye party on a cruise ship that went along the Potomac River with the whole delegation. The cruise lasted three hours, and the ship was cool. There were two dance floors with two DJs on the ship. The cruise was our last major event when we held our farewell party.

I learned so much from this program about America’s past leaders, and how they got past struggles. We also learned other countries’ struggle, and how like America they tried to fix their problems but in different ways. It gave me an opportunity to be a leader, student, problem solver, and even a good roommate. It gave me an opportunity to go places and explore. This experience showed me that I can be independent and overcome many challenges and be successful in the end.

            Sharing a room with people from different parts of the country and the world is a fun experience. I learn about their opinions on certain issues that are happening in the world today. I learned about their hometowns. They are impressive, but I was also impressed by how I can be really social and fun while learning at the same time. I do miss all the amazing new friends I made. I miss my group leader Ms. Peggy. I was blessed to have such a great experience participating in such an insightful and inspiring program, traveling independently, and of course, I will never forget how much fun I had.  If I had not gone on this trip, I would not have been able to participate in such amazing events. I would not have been able to have the experience of a lifetime.  

 

You can obtain information about People to People World Leadership Forum from: http://www.wlfleaders.org/