Features: A Message from Claes Nobel Meet your new Student Council Partner News College-Bound Advice Q & A on the SAT from the College Board Choosing a College Spotlight on Service Fulfilling F.U.N. at Day Camp for the Disabled Visiting the Philippines: A Life-changing Experience Non-Sibi: "Not for Oneself": Tsunami Relief Truths about Tutoring A Super Summer: Controlled Chaos at the Library Summer Experiences Summer Alternatives: Building the Mind AND the Body Summer Dreams: Friends and Fun at the World's Fair in Japan My Summer in Medical Research ICE in Summer: Georgia Tech Institute for Computer Education Learning about Leadership: National Student Leadership Conference Summertime... and the Living is Busy: from Houston, to Harvard, to Oxford Learning about Leadership: National Student Leadership Conference Nyssa Gatcombe Academy of Notre Dame, Class of 2007 Tyngsboro, Massachusetts Nysaa (far left) with her team This summer I spent ten days in College Park, Maryland, as a part of the National Student Leadership Conference. When I got the letter saying that I was accepted to participate in this event, I was thrilled. I'm always looking for a way to never be out of school; I even take classes on the weekends, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. When I got to NSLC I was excited and a bit nervous. I've always been introverted and being thrust into a bunch of entirely new people was disconcerting. I started to doubt whether I really wanted to be there and decided that I would just act the same way I did at home. I realized that wasn't going to work when I got to my first TA meeting of the conference. There was someone in my group who seemed determined not to talk. So my outlook on this experience changed. I decided that two quiet people were just too many. So I pushed myself out of my "box" and started talking to people, I initiated conversations, and because of that I met so many wonderful people that I became good friends with. I went to the Medicine and Health Care conference thinking that it would help with my future career as a veterinarian. It was helpful, but it also focused on areas of medicine that I'll never have to deal with in veterinary sciences, like third world testing, abortions, stem cell research, and euthanasia. But I did get to practice suturing and taking vital signs, which I'll will need. On the last two days of the conference we held "Biomedical Debates." Each TA group had selected four members to present their debate, one each for the opening, argument, rebuttal, and closing. I was the opening speaker for our group. That was a great time because you learned but you had a goal besides a test to make you want to learn. I've always loved debating and am working to get a debate team at my school. But probably the most interesting activity we did there was the "Personality Matrix." This is a quiz to find out your dominant personality style. The types are called the lions, peacocks, koalas, and owls. I am an owl. But it didn't stop there--they put us all in different corners sorted by personality. It was amazing how true to character everyone was. The lions looked really bored and agitated that this whole thing was taking so long. The peacocks were just really loud and constantly cheering. The koalas were quiet, but loud at times too; they looked bored but were just passive. The owls were all listening to what the others had to say and barely a noise came from our corner. I truly learned a lot at NSLC, not just about medicine and leadership, but how to be more open and make more friends we well, an area I've always had trouble in. << Back to Journal Home page