VOX reporter and sophomore Mary Hammer was among 21  students this year who were part of a 4H program run by University of Georgia.  This program is focused on preparing high schoolers to be future leaders. From February to April the young people learned about topics from college and government to team building.  But most importantly, Mary said, they learned what makes a great leader.

High school is a time of preparation. We high schoolers are thinking about our futures; we’re thinking about college, careers, and vocations all the time and are therefore preparing for them. The goal of the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) program is to help sophomores and juniors in becoming the leaders of the future, specifically in regards to their careers. The program is run by University if Georgia (UGA) Extensions in Newton County, which also runs the Newton County 4H. Each year, more than 70 applications are submitted and 21 are selected. I was privileged with the opportunity to be among the chosen applicants and have really enjoyed and learned from this program.

From February to April there are different days dedicated to different topics: College, Government, Professional Development, and Local Government & Team Building. In addition to these days of learning, we’ll have a banquet in May where we’ll officially graduate from this program. We also have had mandatory assignments such as individually attending a public government meeting and doing a road-side clean-up, service project. I can assure you that while cleaning up the road-side and wearing a neon orange shirt I was very glad I wasn’t a prison inmate.

On college day we toured UGA, college of agriculture, and heard from UGA students and alumni about college life, applying to colleges, and special programs and opportunities for students in college. I have not yet reached the point where I’ve started visiting colleges and this was a great first impression for college. For Government Day we went to the capitol building here in Georgia to learn more about the legislative system of our government and toured the governor’s mansion. The mansion was beautiful and every piece within was an antique. My favorite piece was the enormous crystal chandelier in the staircase that reminded me of the one in my favorite Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast.

In addition to these splendid field trips, on Professional Development Day we had talks on job interviews, dressing professionally, public speaking and even an etiquette class. On this occasion we each had the opportunity to practice short, spur of the moment speeches on given topics. Local Government & Team Building Day was one I particularly had a lot of fun on. We visited the local judicial center, listened to a talk from the local SWAT team, got to see and hold SWAT equipment as well as going inside their truck, and get drenched in mud on a mud course.

I am a very girly girl who loves nail polish, dresses, and flowers, but I can tell you that I loved the mud course. I was very tentative at the prospect of the mud course at first, but after going face first into muddy water a couple times, my adventurous side was out and I was having a blast. What I found most valuable in the YLI program was the knowledge of what makes a great leader. Leaders aren’t easy to come by and that’s exactly why this program is helping high schoolers to become them.

There were many great talks given by leaders in many different fields and in one of them Newton County Judge Horace Johnson said, “Don’t limit yourself to the box. Great leaders think outside the box.” I’d heard the saying “think outside the box” before, but I hadn’t ever thought to apply it as a key element of leadership. Vision was often commented on as a trait that leaders have and should have. Another interesting perspective of leadership that I took to heart was Sergeant Randy Downs’, the leader of the local SWAT team, definition of leadership. He said that a leader is a person who can inspire others to do what they themselves don’t want to do, for the good of others. In addition to that, he said that a good leader is a person who creates an environment where others can succeed. If you aren’t making it easy for the people under you to do well in their work, then you will have very few followers and the followers you do have won’t follow you well.

I personally enjoy taking lead and, applying this knowledge to myself, it created an awareness of where I can grow to become a better leader. The YLI program was a great learning opportunity for me and I would highly recommend it. As Judge Horace Johnson said, “The world is full of followers and short on leaders.” This program has inspired me to become a better leader and has handed me the knowledge to become one not only in the career world, but also in my community. —VOX Reporter Mary Hammer