A Key Leader Is

a key leader:
Is an active listener.
Conceptualizes ideas and thoughts.
Is empathetic to others.
Has foresight/vision.
Is civic minded.
Is aware of self, others, and organizations.
Is committed to the growth of people.
Is persuasive.
Is compassionate.
Builds community.
Is caring.
Takes action on goals and plans.

Wow, Key Leader weekend was really amazing. I can't believe the amount of fun that I had. I made lots of new friends that have me looking forward to conference. But since summing it up in a paragraph would be impossible, here's the weekend details:

Friday: That school day was impossible. It seemed so long, despite the shortened school day, it still seemed long and endless. But this post is not about school because duh, it's about key leader. So anyway, I get out of school at 1:05 and we make our way out to the van. My mom is already outside waiting for me and alexa to get our stuff. we're all buzzing with excitement for a) this weekend, and b) the fact that we're out of school. The van is cramped by the time we get all nine people in it, with me, alexa, and sara sharing the backseat. I keep trying to put in my headphones and tune out everyone, but alexa kept talking. well, eventually i get her to shut up long enough that i can listen to viva la cobra with minimum interruptions. The four hour ride is long, but not too long that I can't enjoy myself. When we go to the gas station we find that it's decorated entirely in halloween decorations, and that we're finding candy we can't get back home. So we stock up for the weekend. We get to the camp not much later and check in (and check out the hot boysss), and start our key leader experience. The first of our activities was to have everyone fill out a question on your sheet, as a get to know you kind of thing (it was fun!). Then we went and got our dorms, and headed to dinner. After dinner we started the first of our classes, and boy was it fun. The Hannibal Kids all stuck together, due to the fact that we were besties, and that we didn't really know anyone else. After awhile we got in our neighborhoods and decided team names. Ours was Bob The Builders because we're creative like that. Then we presented the posters we made and went back to listening to Dave speak. After the whole class we went to the rec room for awhile, but after deciding that was boring Alexa, Sara, and I went to the dorm and just hung with our awesome roomies until curfew.

Fri. Pictures:

Saturday: Waiting up at 7am was definitely not the highlight of my weekend. I was pretty cranky when I rolled out of bed, but was quickly changed from that mood as i looked out the window and saw SUNSHINE! sunshine! in October! This is a wonderful thing! So Alexa and I (was Sara with us? I don't remember. That's probably bad.) walked down to breakfast and we were having some form of 'egg' product (i didn't eat it). After breakfast we ran up to the meeting building and had several only-slightly mind numbing hours of class-ish stuff. Including the values activity, where we wrote down our top eight values and had to give them up one by one; and the activity where we had to pass cards around where they each said mother, father, baby, brother, or sister ____ (duck, moon, sun, time, etc.) and we had to find our families (one time without talking). After that we had lunch and then it was time for the ropes! I was in the second group for the rope course so I went down to the lake for a few hours. Then we actually got to go on the ropes and that was AMAZING. We got to do all kinds of teamwork stuff and it was really fun. It was great to be a part of something that was so cool like that. Then after that we had dinner and another class. And then! The bonfire. The bonfire was freeeeezing! I sat and texted Haley and then I got up and actually sang in front of people! IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. That's really cool. I'm proud of myself. Then we went to bed!

Sat. Pics!:

Sunday: Our morning started out with me being woke up by Alexa punching my pillow (thanks dollface). I was pretty crabby in the morning as I tried to get all of my stuff together and I was overwhelmed with sadness because I really didn't want to go home. We had breakfast (Oatmeal. Blech.) and then we had closing classes. Our Saturday review included us writing down what we learned on a piece of paper, wadding it up, and having a snowball fight with it. Then we had closing where we wrote a letter to ourselves that Kiwanis will mail in 6 months, and signed everyones posters, and then we graduated. We watched a video of all the pictures that were taken over the weekend, and then we did probably my favorite part of the program. We went outside and stood in a circle holding hands (With my right hand I held the person to the left of me's left hand, and my left hand held the person to the right's right hand..) and we talked about the weekend. Someone said "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet", I forgot who but that is so true. And then we did this thing where we talked about how people all over the country were doing this very thing right at that moment, and then we turned so we were out of the circle, and went on to change the world.