Monday, September 28, 2009

Epic Excuse: NYLC

Soo.... I haven't posted in... 6? 7? days. I'M SO SORRY. If you were wondering, I'm still alive. Yay me! Here's what happened.

I went to this conference called the National Young Leaders Conference. I thought I would be able to go online there, but first, I left my power cord at home, and my mom had to mail it to me, and then I didn't have WiFi in my room, and none of that mattered anyway, because we woke up at six and were going until 10:30, at which point 4 girls had to use 1 bathroom to get ready for the next day (this usually took until 1 am). I had no time there and I did a lot of work and got no sleep and couldn't do any reading and it was.......THE. BEST. TIME. OF. MY. FREKKIN. LIFE.

No joke. No sarcasm. It was amazing!!

Some highlights:
  1. Hearing Scott Beale, CEO and founder of Atlas Corps, speak, and getting to give a short spiel thanking him in front of about 330 other scholars.
  2. Visiting all the major memorials.
  3. Going to a workshop about Youth Venture.
  4. Meeting my representative's assistant.
  5. Seeing Diane Feinstein debate on the Senate Floor.
  6. Seeing John McCain. (Some other people said they saw a very annoyed John Kerry too)
  7. Sitting in the front row at the House of Congress, listening to Congressman Sanford Bishop speak.
  8. Listening to The Milton Jaques Press Panel (Nancy Ambrose among others)
  9. Having a Town Hall discussion on immigration and feeling so lucky to be in a room full of such intelligent teenagers. It was seriously amazing to be surrounded by intelligent people for 6 full days.
  10. Performing the duties of Minority Leader for the Republican party, including choosing talking points, reviewing amendments, and choosing debate speakers, opening and closing a Model Congress Simulation, and pumping up a crowd.
  11. Acting as an Associate Justice.
  12. Winning a booty shakin' dance contest at our farewell dinner cruise/dance.
  13. Meeting amazing kids from across the country who I am never going to forget.
  14. Discovering that I am far bolder than I ever imagined, far more outgoing than I ever imagined, and a much better leader than I ever imagined.

It's nice to be back, but it's bittersweet. I feel like I've crammed a month of life into six days. It was seriously one of the most mindblowing experiences out there. If you get invited to NYLC or GYLC, do it. Seriously.

Now that I'm back, I'm ready to start college applications, book reviews, interviews, and a zillion other things I've neglected for what feels like a lifetime.

Love to all the amazing followers who stuck by me in this long silent period and to the few people who actually began following me. Wowza.

Tashi <3

5 comments:

MissA said...

OMG! I did JrNYLC and the Inagural version of it (PYLC or something). It rocked! I got to see Obama sworn i and I will NEVER forget it. JrNYLC is the younger version of NYLC (my first time in D.C. and I fell in love with the city!)The whole National Young Leadership program is amazing.
It sounds awesome and I'm jealous :)

susan said...

Another bonus for having you two in my life. Knew nothing about this incredible program.

I read your post last night and shared it with my daughter but I failed to comment.

So happy for you, Tashi. And Ari, not surprised you've participated in this program, too.

Keep doing what you do and don't forget your godmother when you're working on the hill or on Wall Street or Broadway. :-)

Tara McClendon said...

It sounds like you're busy. I'll look forward to new posts when you get a chance. And until then, I'm glad you're living life to its fullest.

Unknown said...

Omg i luved going there soooooo mu h!!!!! I also went 2 the younger one and i luvex it!!! Haha i no wat h mean about nevr having free time. The constant going!!!!! My favorite part was wen we got to go to thebhard rock cafe and we also got 2 sleep in the maryland science center!!!! It was sooooo much fun!!! But i think the best part was the awesome people i met ther and i evn got my first bf!!!!! I luv him soooo much and we r constantly in touch along with my bffs frm thr. Haha ok bi!!!! Sry ppz excuse the misspellings. Im doing this on my ipod touch and its kinda hard....

Gilbert said...

i got an invatation to go to NYLC and i dont know if i should go how long is it and how much does it cost to go and weres lodging?

 
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