In the fall of seventh grade, I was nominated to take part in the Jr. NYLC, which stands for Junior National Young Leadership Conference. This is a week long leadership program that teaches and improves leadership skills traits. It involves more than 200 students from all over the United States.

The program took place in Washington D.C, which meant I would have to fly there alone. I’ve been on planes plenty of times, but this was my first time alone. So I was a little nervous. However, at the airport, I met a girl from Rumford, who was also going to the same program, and we were going to have the same plane ride there and back. She and I were the only two representing Maine. We ended up being great friends by the end of the week.

When we arrived in Baltimore we discovered that we would be staying at a 4H Center, which to me was like a college campus. I ended up having three roommates from Utah, South Carolina, and Illinois. Also, during our free time we could walk around campus, go to the café, or to the arcade.

Throughout the week, we went to many historical locations. The program tried to connect history to leadership by acknowledging some of our great American leaders who changed America. We went to places like Harpers Ferry, Virginia, we toured historical Philadelphia, and we visited our national memorials in D.C.

My favorite part of the whole week happened to be the last night we were there. Picture this: about 200 kids from all over the country at the Hard Rock Café, dancing on the tables with music blaring. Yeah, you could definitely say we all had a blast that night. After that we went to the Baltimore Science Museum and slept there overnight. The girls had to sleep in the space room, so that was pretty exciting. The next morning, it was so sad saying bye to everyone.

I have to say I had a great time and made a lot of friends from all over. And to think I thought this trip was going to be boring. If you ever have an opportunity to participate in this program, I definitely think you should take part in it. I can promise you won’t regret it.