Spending time with Teens

I recently was a Learning Facilitator aka Camp Counselor, at an intense 5-day leadership camp for rising high school seniors, called RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Award. Rotary sponsors the camp, and this one is run by two districts with students from the Sacramento area up the 80 corridor and into Northern Nevada. Hosted in Portola, CA, in the Tahoe National Forest, it was a delight to return to my old stomping grounds and smell the pine trees once more.

When my friend Erik shared a little about his experience and encouraged me to attend, I was a bit hesitant. Being someone without kids, and having no experience with them, outside of my nieces and nephews, it seemed like a miserable way to spend time (no offense). However, he shared a bit about the impact on the kids and the transformations he’d witnessed, it became a bit more compelling. In addition, when I uncovered that the curriculum was built around leadership and resilience, it tugged at a commitment I had made, which is to help build the leaders of tomorrow. As is typical Silvia fashion, I acknowledged my fears and hesitance and still said YES!

Nearly two weeks later, I can say I am a better person for having participated in the program. Aside from making friends with the other learning facilitators and leaders of the curriculum, I remain in awe of those kids! Seven gals in my cabin (we had one that ended up going home early) and eleven teens in my learning group, have left me optimistic about the future. The depth of vulnerability, curiosity, and comradery was astonishing. To see the friendships forged and the commitments each teen made about their future was heartening.

I will never forget the things I did alongside those teens (thank goodness I’ve been working out – ha!), the commitments I made, along with new friends. It is not an understatement to say, I believe this was an inflection point for me. A clear demarcation in my life – before RYLA and after RYLA. Much like other pivotal moments I’m excited to see where the journey goes from here.

If anything, I hope this is a gentle reminder to you, to listen to your intuition. To take a moment, be scared, and plow forward anyway. In the end, we only live once, and living a life aligned, albeit frightening, is the satisfying way to live.