The camp targets students who have completed their junior year in high school and have been identified as leaders in their high schools and/or communities. Once selected, students are awarded a full scholarship by their local Rotary Club to attend the week-long event.
Nicole's scholarship came from the Bridgeville-South Fayette Rotary. The program challenges students in the areas of leadership, interpersonal skills, personal reflection and discovery, and service-focused application while offering opportunities to create new relationships with other students from Western Pennsylvania.
Each day, student leaders experience workshops that challenge them to sharpen their skills.
Programs, workshops, and hands-on activities are presented by camp staff members, members of the Rotary community, and reputable speakers from the region. A daily small group discussion, facilitated by trained RYLA counselors, allow participants to grow as an individual and as a leader. Teens will also enjoy structured social activities each evening that allow them to get to know their peers on a social level.
"I heard about the camp through Mrs. Kunkel," Nicole said. "I really wanted to go because I had heard good things about it. It's what people call a life-changing experience, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
Students from all around the area participate. The students talk about the community service projects they’ve done through their schools and share the leadership potential that comes with each project. In addition, the students discussed what some schools do and what others don’t do as a way to encourage all participants improve our community service projects.
Nicole also felt that the camp's main goal to help students break out of their social "shell" to work together and accomplish a task or goal would help her as she readies herself for college.
"I'm typically on the quieter side," she said. "I'm not a very outgoing person, but this really changed that. Being around people who were a lot like me really challenged me to further myself in my own skill set. I really put myself out there and that really encouraged me to do the same with my peers here when we started the new school year."
One of the activities the camp used to show students that they could affect others positively through simple actions was called Windshield Warriors.
"We wrote friendly notes to people and went into a shopping center parking lot and put the notes on their windshields. We hoped that when they came out from shopping and read a nice little positive note, it would brighten their day,” she explained. “We watched from afar as they read the notes and enjoyed their reactions. It's just a small thing, but it worked."
"The camp was definitely was a life-changing week for me," Nicole said. "On top of the service activities and doing things with the Rotary, it was a lot of just thinking and reflecting on yourself. Who you are as a person and if you are who you want to be or if you feel you need to change. I learned that we do have the power to change who we are and that was really important for me."
Nicole, who is planning to become a special education teacher, said she would highly recommend the Rotary camp to others.
