FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - The Fair Oaks Rotary Club recently sent six Bella Vista High School students to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) — an intensive leadership retreat where students form strong bonds and discover their true leadership potential.                          

At the club meeting on September 30, Celene Aridin, Evan Manley, Amanda Drew, Tafari LaBrie, Jun Seo, and Thida Mommaitri spoke about their experiences at RYLA. Aridin described RYLA as “a weeklong self-discovery journey [and] leadership camp” where they learned that “you cannot lead others until you can lead yourself.” That’s why a major focus at RYLA is self-reflection and self-growth.

“Self-reflection is a big part of RYLA,” said Mommaitri. Students were asked to reflect on their biggest fears or insecurities as well as their good qualities and hopes for the future. Sharing those thoughts with the group helped students open up and support each other. Mommaitri said, “There was so much positive energy … you felt everyone there was supporting you, just a whole big family. … I can’t describe the feeling in the room because it was so intense and so once in a lifetime. … It was a beautiful moment.”

Creating bonds of friendship and learning to trust each other are important components of RYLA, so many of the activities encouraged students to share their personal experiences and their biggest challenges. Mommaitri said, “It teaches us how to be vulnerable, and that’s a huge part of being a leader as well.”

LaBrie said, “The hard part for me, the scary part for me, was opening up and becoming vulnerable, but I think RYLA taught us that being vulnerable isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.” LaBrie described Cross the Line, an activity where the group leader asks whether students have dealt with particular experiences, and students cross to the center of the room if their answer is yes. LaBrie said it was a powerful activity because it gave students a chance to share experiences that can be difficult to talk about: “[It] allowed them to express themselves without having to say a word.”

Mommaitri said many people became emotional during Cross the Line. She said it was comforting to see so many other people shared the same experiences: “It makes you feel like you’re not alone because you can reach out and talk to them.”

Physical challenges also facilitated the bonding process and provided opportunities for the students to support each other and demonstrate trust. After climbing a tall tower, students had to jump off and trust that their group would bring them safely to the ground by keeping the harness rope secure. “It’s really the group that gets you through everything,” said Aridin.

Although Manley was not afraid of heights, he knew the tower challenge was intimidating for others in his group, “so it felt like a win for me when they conquered that fear of theirs and jumped off.”

With so many different challenges and activities at the camp, Manley said, “It shows you all the different stages of being a leader. Sometimes you’ll step up and be the one leading the group. Sometimes you’ll be the one watching, letting other people take the lead.” Manley thanked all the Rotary members who volunteered as counselors at the camp and thanked the club for sponsoring them to attend. “It was such a great experience for all of us,” he said.

Mommaitri agreed, “No one wanted to leave. … Everyone just wanted to stay there because the environment we create there was so special. … It was such an amazing opportunity.”

Rotary member Jim Erickson has been volunteering as a RYLA counselor for three years now and said that the counselors also form strong bonds with the students during the camp: “The counselors get almost as much or more out of it than the kids do.” He described it as “a great emotional week for the kids to learn about themselves and about others. … It’s a great experience for them.