[BLOG] FUELLED BY ENERGY AT STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

By Gillian Chiu, Alumnae Prefect

I was fortunate to represent Balmoral Hall School in my favourite way, attending Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC), during the last week of September. I am a Grade 12 student who has now attended four leadership conferences, two of which were strictly for Canadian independent schools, and two with most high schools across Canada. This year, I travelled with Mrs. Mandy Green, Student Activities Coordinator, and two of my peers to the cold but beautiful Edmundston, NB.

Click here to view photos from CSLC 2016.

The energy at CSLC is unparalleled by anywhere else I have been. It is made up of several hundred teenagers with the common goal of learning and making a difference in any way possible, even if that means having dance parties and yelling chants at 8 a.m. There seems to be a stigma around leadership conferences. Students my age assume that they are a series of never-ending lectures delivered throughout five days, but they could not be more wrong. Sure, we heard from many keynote speakers, but they were some of the most motivational (and entertaining) ones in North America. We were spoken to by Alvin Law, a man born with no arms, who encouraged us to knock down the barricades we put up for ourselves, and Tyler Durman, who promoted the idea of “saving the cat,” explaining how truly easy it is to be caring to others, as well as many more.

However, the best part of these conferences is meeting people. Whether learning things from peers, hearing their ideas, or making connections with them, I became a better leader because the students at CSLC make me want to be my best self. Each time I attend a conference, I am baffled by how much energy I have after little sleep; it is all because I absorb the energy of the wonderful people who surrounded me.

Over the course of CSLC, I attended workshops , explored Edmundston, straddled the Canada-US border, attended small concerts (yes, more than one), learned about different cultures,  explored various careers, walked through New Brunswick Botanical Garden, went bowling, climbed a mountain (admittedly, a small one), cleaned up a bike trail, and made some of the most amazing new friends while reuniting with old ones. I learned so much about what it means to be a “leader,” and I continue to build my own definition of the word.

On the last night of CSLC, at the end of the banquet, the delegates from Waterloo presented their plans for next year’s conference. I have never been more jealous in my life; at the end of this school year I will no longer be a high school student, and so I cannot attend CSLC in 2017. This was one of the best experiences of my life, and I strongly encourage Grade 11 and 12 students to take advantage of this opportunity in the future.
 
Back
No comments have been posted

Balmoral Hall School

630 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3C 3S1
Tel: (204) 784-1600 | Fax: (204) 774-5534 | info@balmoralhall.ca
Charitable Registration No. 12994 3932 RR0001
Our mission at Balmoral Hall School is to inspire girls’ imagination and the courage to excel, to reach, to lead, to care.

We are a nondenominational independent day and boarding school, educating students from Junior Nursery to Grade 12.