Two sophomores attend leadership camp

"Me? I can't lead," thought sophomore Twila Albrecht, when Bethany's Student Life Cluster asked her and classmate Cory Bowman to attend the 2009 Rotary Leadership Award Camp. Her invitation read, "you were selected because you have significant leadership potential." Serving as a Student Council representative this year had felt like a big leap in testing her leadership skills. Meeting 150 strangers at a youth leadership conference felt nerve-wracking, so she had decided to decline.

However, as she was studying Matthew 14:22-36 (Peter's walking on the water) in Bible class, she realized that she was like Peter. She had started well (joining SBA), but was terrified when she saw the wind (attending the conference). So despite her fear, she decided to attend the conference, and trust that Christ would strengthen her.

Twila and Cory both found the conference a welcoming place where they quickly made new friends and enjoyed a weekend of fun and learning, attending workshops, team-building activities, and stepping out of their comfort zone. They learned about different styles of leadership and the strengths that each style can bring to a group. The weekend was helpful for Cory in becoming more aware of how he has been and is a leader and the style that is naturally comfortable for him. And Twila realized that leading doesn't always involve being in the forefront talking, but can mean quietly leading by example. She has a renewed excitement about trying new things and helping others to get involved in serving the community. She said, "it may still take some time for me to gain confidence in some areas, but this was a good first step."