The RYLA Fire

Last weekend I went to RYLA or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. For my district, 6540, it is hosted at Camp Tecumseh and occurs from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. All of the exchange students got to go, both inbound and outbound, so when we first got there we had a little group because we all new each other. I got to meet other high school kids from all over our district who are just as driven to do good and share the same values and passions as me. We are all unique, expressive teenagers who are, or trying to, follow our passions and chase our dreams. I have come to realize that many people use religion to become a better person and help the world. Even though I do not believe in the religion that drives them so passionately to fix the world, I believe in the peace, hope, helpfulness, and friendship that they spread and the things that they are accomplishing. I now have established a "Whatever floats your boat and helps you make the world better" opinion. Even though one might think that I would be distant from my extremely religions peers, I think they are the people that have the most similar personality to mine. We also got to listen to many amazing speakers (I think that all of them were Rotarians). These included an entomologist (who had a tarantula that I got to pet), a mixed martial arts 3rd degree black belt, a comedian/magician/mime, and a college RA who started an Interact club at his local high school. Finally, and probably most importantly, we did a series of super fun team building exercises. I had a group of ten amazing people who I spent my entire weekend with. One of my favorite of these activities was where we all had to be standing on a tiny-tiny wooden box at the same time, without touching the ground, and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We ate meals together, and hung out together all the time, and by the end of the weekend, they were like my second family. This was an amazingly fun, full, and inspirational experience. If you are a current high school student, I highly recommend going; you do not even have to be in RYE to participate! And as they say... I've got the RYLA fire in my belly!