Print Friendly, PDF & Email

The guest speakers at our Rotary lunch meeting on November 15th were Jordon Leonard and Sam Vogel, who attended RYLA last summer. They were introduced by Whitney Green Bautista. Both Sam and Jordon happened to be Rotary Youth Exchange Students sponsored by the Tigard Club some years ago –  Sam went to Brazil in 2007-08 and Jordon went to Austria in 2010-11.

RYLA is an acronym for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. Each year, young people from ages 19 – 28, sponsored by different Rotary Clubs in District 5100, participate in a one-week retreat at Menucha Retreat and Conference Center near Corbett. Jordon said that a common theme of the week was “getting out of your comfort zone”. She said that they tried out new things, developed their leadership skills, and learned more about themselves. She said the content is broad, but that it is also tailored to each person, in that everyone gets something different out of it. For her, it was visualizing her life and making goals that support her end vision. She said it made her feel more grounded, and gave her a framework within herself. Sam added that it was a growing experience for everyone, no matter where one was in his or her life. He said it helped him learn a lot about himself. Further, he said participants developed tight bonds with one another and made long-lasting friends.

In response to a question, they both said they listed RYLA on their resumes, which allowed them to talk about their leadership skills during interviews. They also said that they could apply the skills and knowledge they learned to the work they do.

To learn more about RYLA, please visit http://www.ryladistrict5100.org/.