Youth Leadership Experiences Shape our Potential

     It is an inescapable fact that every person is simply a product of their experience, first guided by family and friends, but later by life and personal choice. 

     Our character, our values, even our basic decision making processes were indelibly marked by the leaders who passed through the early course of our lives.  These individuals served as beacons during our journey towards independence, responsibility and establishment of our role and place in life.   They were parents, teachers, coaches, older siblings, Boy Scout troop leaders and many others who may not have even realized that they were serving such an essential role.

     It is easy enough to search through the archives of our memory to find those individuals whose personal light has left a lasting impression on our future.  Some deserve accolades for their impact while others may have left fingerprints we prefer to forget, but their influence on our lives remains nonetheless, and hopefully we learned from both.