SchwartzBlog

Hello World!
I know, I know. It has been a while since I have blogged. Well for those of you who are just longing to read more, I do have a few posts that I am drafting so hang in there!

The other reason I haven’t put up a post in a while is because I sent the link to my blog to a few college admissions officers, and the post before this is a good one.

So what have I been doing? well, Over the past few days I have been at the New York State Council for Leadership and Student Activities Annual Conference in Buffalo. So let’s get into it…

Buffalo is about a 7 hour drive from westchester, so while the conference didn’t officially start until sunday, my school took the bus trip up the day before. But as I had a concert on saturday night, I had to make other arrangements. I took an 10:55 flight out of JFK Sunday morning which got me to Buffalo around 2:30 (the flight was delayed an hour). After getting my bags I headed to the hotel where I met up with some unbelievable people. For those of you who do not know, I attended a student leadership conference last June in Indianapolis. And those same people from the New York delegation at that conference in June were all at this conference. So it was an awesome reunion.

After orientation and a few ice breakers, We all went to the main hall and heard the words of The “Original” Mike Smith. And I was so impressed by his message that I ended up talking to him afterwords for half an hour. The following day I saw a keynote by Harriet Turk, followed by some workshops, idea exchanges, a banquet and a dance. And the last day I saw a keynote by Ted Wiese, which was preceded by a surprise visit from Governor David Patterson. After Ted’s speech we saw some advertisements for future conferences, and got on buses heading home.

All of these speakers brought something different to the table. Lessons that while one may think are simple, are not often the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Leadership. What I got from Ted was that fear is man-made. We create fear based on what we think we know, and it drives us crazy. But fear can be demolished just as quickly as it can arise. And as leaders, we have the power to demolish that fear in others. But to do that, we need to demolish it within ourselves. Harriet Turk had a similar message. The first thing she said that stuck with me was that the average teenager hears over 140,000 negative statements directed at them before the graduate, but less than 10,000 positive statements. The fact of that matter is, some kids are cruel. But as student leaders we have the power to change the impact those kids have.

The “Original” Mike Smith had quite a few messages, but there was one that really stuck with me. Humans are creatures of habit, and have a habit of doing what they see. They only remember about 20% of the words spoken to them, and you have little control on what those words will be. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your character. And your character becomes your destiny. So anything you say can be remembered. They can become someone’s thoughts, actions, habits, and so on. Everything you do matters. Everything you do has the ability to have a much bigger impact that you expect. For better or worse. A true leader is never off duty. Because especially with the current role of technology in our lives, everything we do has the opportunity to have a much bigger effect than intended.

As there are many parts of my life that define me, there are specific experiences that have made me who I am. These conferences fall into that category. Since 2007 I have been to 6 leadership conferences. Some with a subset of my student council, some with a friend, and some on my own. And not only has every conference taught me unforgettable lessons, but every conference has gotten me to take a look at who I am and how I can improve. Every conference has given me new friends, both young an old. And every conference has had me sitting with a keynote speaker trying to find out who I am going to be when I grow up. In short, these conferences represent the best experiences I have ever had.

Whether it be Saratoga Springs, Buffalo, Denver or Indianapolis, These conferences have been unforgettable, and the lessons I have taken from them are what will guide me throughout the rest of my life.