Leaders of Tomorrow: The 2005 National Youth Leadership Training

By Shivani Bhatt, 2005 NYLT participant

July 24, 2005: The last day of the National Youth Leadership Training
arrived, and with it signing camp T-shirts, exchanging of email
addresses, and the tears of solemn farewells. In just one week, the
diverse NYLT community had transformed into one big family.
These seven days were the experience of a lifetime — and only the
beginning for young leaders now ready to "serve, learn, and change the
world."

NYLT’s biggest goal is to open participants’ minds to the world, and
this happened every day during the 2005 training. Daylong seminars
brought attention to the many different types of discrimination, and
how to overcome them by developing the characteristics of a good
leader. Every night the dining hall filled with food, singing, dancing,
and motivational speeches by students and staff representing many
cultures: Asian-American, African-American, American Indian,
European-American, and Latin American. Culture Nights, in particular,
allowed participants to represent their heritages with pride, while
learning to appreciate other cultures.

Throughout the week, cooperation, encouragement, and trust increased
tenfold as participants faced challenging activities. The youths
cheered each other to the top of the rock wall, the mini-marathon
finish line, and the talent night curtain call. Those who lacked
confidence at the beginning of NYLT blossomed and gave
outstanding performances — thanks in large part to support from their
fellow youth leaders. But the encouragement among NYLT youths was loudest as they planned and implemented service-learning projects in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The service-learning projects, appropriately called POEs (Pursuit of
Excellence), happened at an array of sites that
included farms, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and child care
centers. This variety provided the youths a good sense of how many
service opportunities are available to them, and the many different
ways in which they can change the world through individual and team
achievements.

As with past trainings, the 2005 NYLT permanently changed its
participants. As high school students, they deal regularly with
insecurity and others’ often-negative perceptions of them. These
worries are a barrier to self-expression. But after receiving the
enthusiasm and support of peers at the training, participants stopped
being afraid of what others would think if they pursued their potential
as leaders. NYLT provides a vast array of opportunities for youths, allowing them to "be the leaders of tomorrow … today."