A testimony of how one “yes” changed the course of my entire life

“No man is an island, no man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own”

For the past two years, these simple words have been at the root of my innermost being. As I sit and reflect on the way Louisiana Youth Seminar has impacted my life, I cannot help but bask in pure jubilee and gratitude!.. You’d think that after experiencing the magic of the program three times, it would be easy for me to find the right words to describe it. Despite being the sole reason I am able to stand up in front of a crowd and speak,  until recently, I found myself completely and utterly speechless when asked, “So, what exactly is LYS?”.

I am LYS. 

With that being said though, it would be dishonest for me to say that I’ve always been.

There once was a time when, while I did think leadership was possible, I just didn’t think it was a possibility for me. Let’s flashback to three summers ago. I had just finished my freshman year at St. Joseph’s Academy, Beyoncé was coming to New Orleans, and I had finally convinced my parents that I was ready to take driver’s ed. Life was everything that a fourteen year old “young lady” could hope for!  Then, the unthinkable happened. I found out that my parents had signed me up for a week-long leadership camp. The worst part? It started on the SAME day Queen B was gracing The Boot with her presence. The next week consisted of conversations such as, “Mom, I’m not even on Student Council, why would you make me go to something like this?” and “Fine. I’ll go, but you’ll have to drop me off on Monday after the concert! I’m sure they’ll understand.”. Nevertheless, you better believe that I was (reluctantly) packing my bags on Saturday night for my week at LSU.

The sun seemed to have risen a heck of a lot earlier that Sunday morning- I wasn’t ready to go off this mysterious camp for the week, and to be honest, I was terrified when we finally got there. Who in their right mind would think that it’s okay to steal my bags while screaming in my face, and why weren’t my parents stopping these crazy people?

My week must’ve not sucked TOO badly, because I found myself right back on campus a year later, excited to be back at the place that I grew to love in only a short week. No longer in existence was the girl that was afraid to show off her personality; the girl that wouldn’t be caught dead giving a speech; the girl that was, in short, uncomfortable in her own skin. I practically ran to the sign in table, screamed in delight at the sight of old friends, and decided that THIS would be the year to show LYS who I really was. What I didn’t realize was that I could fall even deeper in love with and get even more out of LYS than I had the previous seminar. I never thought that it would turn out that I didn’t show LYS who I was, but quite the opposite.

LYS showed me who I was that week: I accomplished things that I never thought I could accomplish, grew in a way that I never thought I could grow, and showered in temperatures that I never thought I could shower in. The spirit of the program radiated through me, and I could not WAIT to be back for my third and final seminar.

Well, my “third and final” eventually came and went, and while it is hard for me to believe that I’ll no longer be a delegate, my comfort comes in the sheer knowledge that I don’t have to completely leave it all behind: LYS lives inside of me- and for that, I say “Thank  you”

Because of LYS, I have not only become comfortable in my own skin, but learned that there are leadership qualities in every single person- you just need to be willing to let go of what’s familiar, and you’ll see things in yourself that never knew existed. Thanks for showing us all to “walk with pride, leadership our guide, and wave high the flag of LYS"