While many may not believe it, joining certain school clubs can provide numerous leadership opportunities beyond the school setting. The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is one such opportunity taken by the four members of Interact Club’s executive board on Dec. 5-7 at Camp Cedar Crest in Running Springs, CA.
RYLA is an experience hosted by Rotary Club, a philanthropic organization that aims to help others in the community and the world; their motto is “Service before Self.” RYLA is open to high school sophomores and juniors in the Interact club, Rotary’s high school version, where students can participate in workshops and get hands-on experience to improve their leadership and communication skills.
Next year’s Interact Club President and Vice President, Karren Zhuang and Katelyn Chung, were able to participate in the event itself, going to the various workshops and experiences they had to offer.
“I decided to go because I really love Interact club itself, so next year I really want to be the president and learn how to run a club and how to manage everything,” Zhuang shared.
Seniors and current President and Vice President, Katelynn Lee and Lauryn Marin, who attended last year as participants, were able to join in as senior counselors.
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Students got to make smores and do other outdoors activities while sleeping in cabins. “It was a Saturday and it was social time and we had smores and stuff and it was really fun,” said Karren Zhuang.
Image by Katelyn Chung
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Students had to stay within the bounds of the wooded area, although one student was thought to have strayed off the beaten path. Luckily, they were found in a cabin 30 minutes later.
Image by Katelyn Chung
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11th and 12th graders spent time in groups learning how to be better leaders. Each group was led by a student counselor, like Katelynn Lee and Lauryn Marin.
Image by Karren Zhuang
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One of the activities the students got to take part in was rock painting, as seen here in the rocks painted by Karren Zhuang.
Image by Karren Zhuang
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Activities included indoor and outdoor time for students to work in their teams.
Image by Karren Zhuang
“I had fun at RYLA the first year and saw that the senior counselors had a lot of fun and were really close to each other, so I applied,” Lee said.
While Zhuang and Lee agreed that the event was fun, Lee also noted an unfortunate event that took place on one of the nights there. A student went missing for thirty minutes. They ended up being in a cabin, but everyone looked for them in the woods.
“It started off bad at first…But I think it brought us closer as teammates, it really helped us bond,” Lee said.
Ultimately, the opportunity strengthened all of the participants’ leadership skills.
“It was really fun and a good experience to meet new people and learn how to be a leader,” Zhuang said.
Want to join the Interact club? Contact Katelynn Lee at [email protected]
