2024 Emerging Youth Leaders Summit
- July 22 – July 27, 2024 Six days immersive experience
- Enhance leadership skills
- Develop reserach abilities
- Meet elected leaders and entrepreneurs
- Debate and advocate your choices for topics of environment, politics, food security, housing, education, etc.
- Networking and team building
Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders
by Joshua Chen (Sophomore at Panther Creek High School, NC)
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Emerging Youth Leaders Summit, a six-day immersive summer camp organized by the MOVENC Foundation, APAPA Carolinas, and the Office of House Representative Ya Liu. Through this camp, I was able to interact with current leaders, innovators, and experts in a wide variety of fields while simultaneously learning how to apply my leadership skills and take charge in my community.
Civic Engagement
Throughout the entire week, we were tasked with completing a service learning project about various issues in North Carolina, such as education, housing, small businesses, etc. Not only were we able to further our understanding of many of the major issues affecting our state, but we also developed our critical thinking and creativity to find solutions to address each issue. In my case, my group chose to work on environmental issues, which led us to create a proposal for a nonprofit that would raise awareness, encourage people to adopt more sustainable practices, and organize events to clean up our community.
While this service learning project allowed us to see how we could potentially influence our communities, we were also given the chance to directly aid others through the activities hosted by Koala Craft. This small business and art studio helped us create glass paintings, Perler beads, etc. Later, these works were auctioned off, and the proceeds were given to various charities that would improve our communities.
Public Speaking and Debate
In addition to civic engagement, the camp emphasized the importance of public speaking and communication. For example, the camp counselors ran an ethics bowl with debates on ethical questions such as AI art copyright protection and the ethics of violent resistance. Furthermore, the summit also included lessons from Michael Hoeppner, a professional speech and debate coach for presidential candidates and industry leaders. Michael provided personalized feedback on the content and delivery of each group’s service learning project, as well as several vocal exercises and instructions on the fundamentals of public speaking.
Future
The organizers of the Emerging Youth Leaders Summit also ensured that we were given the opportunity to consider how we should prepare for our future lives. Two special guests were invited: Teresa Ma, the founder of Oak Education and a professional college counselor, and also Brian Zhang, a rising freshman at MIT. The two shared their experiences on the college application process and shared advice based on what they had learned and taught. For instance, I learned about the importance of planning ahead given the sheer amount of dates involved with the application process.
Later on, we were even able to consider various future careers based on several tours. From government officials during our guided tour of the NC General Assembly Building to founders of startups during our career exploration panel, we explored various careers and asked questions to these leading members of our community. For me personally, visiting the You Lab at Duke University was particularly memorable as I could see how topics that I have learned and read about are applied in areas of active research. Simply put, it was much more interesting to see how concepts such as next-generation sequencing and the central dogma of biology are used in the real world compared to in a paper or classroom.
Personal Reflection
As one of the residential campers at the Emerging Youth Leaders Summit, this summit has undoubtedly become one of the most memorable camps I have attended. There were numerous unique opportunities that have developed my outlook on my future, and I have made many new connections and friendships with other campers who have similar interests. Whether it has been getting highly interactive feedback from a professional speech and debate coach or playing card games with the other residential students, these experiences have made me a better writer, orator, and person–making me significantly more prepared for the future.
A Great Start to Expand My Network
by Lucy Chen (Junior at North Shore High School, NY)
After finishing the Emerging Youth Leaders Summit Summit, I reflected on the activities I participated in. As a residential camper, I had many opportunities to communicate and have fun with the other campers. I believe this camp was a great start for me to expand my network as I grow older. Communication skills were emphasized throughout the camp, and we had numerous guest speakers sharing their career experiences and advice, all of which were very helpful.
As a rising senior, understanding the upcoming challenges is important to me. Which is why I paid much attention when college counselors came in. Unfortunately, I was sick during the camp and was unable to present my best, which was one of the biggest challenges I faced. I missed out on some activities, but I put forth my best effort whenever I was present. There was a lot of teamwork both during and outside the camp. Each group had debates, projects, and speeches to complete, and I enjoyed working with members when everyone was dedicated to the same goal. Although a lot of times I felt my spirit was willing, but my body didn’t have the energy, I still managed to try my best during the camp.
Outside of camp activities, everyone helped with cooking, cleaning, and playing games together, which was personally my favorite part of the camp. Everyone laughed so hard during the cooking contest and made lots of jokes. I felt the diversity among the different types of people, but also a sense of unity among us, as everyone spoke Chinese. This shared language probably contributed to me making many new friends. This camp was truly outstanding and I never thought I would enjoy it this much. I loved every group’s presentation and had a great time working with my group members.
Make a Positive Impact in the Community
by Sunny Zhao (Freshman at Cary Academy, NC)
My name is Sunny Zhao, and I was a participant of the 2024 Emerging Youth Leadership Summit. The camp was a unique opportunity for aspiring leaders to come together, share ideas, and ignite change in our community and beyond. Over the course of the week, we engaged in thought-provoking activities that would improve an aspect of our leadership skills, such as public speaking, presentation, setting sustainable goals for our future, and more.
When we first started doing presentations during the camp, I found it hard to share and present my ideas in front of a crowd of strangers. However, these challenges became opportunities that fostered growth and learning. Attending EYLS helped push me outside of my comfort zone; sharing out during camp in the support of my peers and counselors helped create a safe learning environment and helped me navigate obstacles in my learning. During the public speaking workshop, I learned to project my voice and not to be afraid to share out; this was another big step that EYLS helped me take. Watching my peers share and learn interactive, personalized techniques on how to improve their public speaking helped me curate my own plan to best share my ideas with a crowd.
Learning from such a diverse group of people was a unique experience. Through EYLS, I’ve met new friends, achieved new connections, and found my own way to make a positive impact in the community.
Entertaining, Fun, and Engaging
by Alan Gao (Senior at East Chapel Hill High, NC)
Hi, my name is Alan. As one of the oldest people at the camp and a residential camper, this is my reflection of the 2024 EYLS summer camp.
The activities at the camp were very entertaining, fun, and overall engaging. The counsellors made sure people were engaged in these activities, and I could see almost everyone having at least a little fun with the activities. The residential experience was also decent. I gained about 3 pounds from the camp because I ate very well. However, a lot of the boys were very uncomfortable sleeping together on the same bed. I myself was not too concerned with that fact but a lot of the other boys were. One complaint I myself had was that the WiFi signal at the camp was horrible. It was enough to do work but even then, The wifi would take ages loading things especially at the barn. Other than that, I would say that the residential experience was pretty great. I had a lot of fun connecting with almost everyone at the house, and it really bonded all of us together for those who wanted to bond with others.
There weren’t too many challenges that I had control over. I think due to the nature of summer break being a break, I think some people didn’t want to work too hard on the presentation as other people. I just had to work harder than I should’ve but other than that and the bad WiFi, I think there weren’t too many challenges. Getting the presentation done and looking good with my group was a success, because we got it done in time for the deadline.
After all, I’m one of the oldest people here, and I feel like a lot of the information that the camp provided was geared more to younger people. However, I gained a lot of connections. The people I talked to and saved in my phone might prove to be valuable connections later on in life. I also gained a lot of experiences, ranging from talking to people at the You Duke lab to building a house out of beads. I think if you really take advantage of these activities, I believe you can grow more as a person.