by Emily Cinquemani, Class of 2011

This past school year, Theresa Krupka, Mary Kate McClintock, and I had the opportunity to participate in Youth Leadership Greenville. This program was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. I have lived in the area for most of my life; however, participating in this program showed me that there were many things about the Greenville community that I did not know. The program allowed me to see that Greenville is a great place, but it also has needs and problems that need to be met by everyone who lives in this community.

We visited many areas of the city. For example, we spent an entire day learning about Greenville's history. We visited the Upcountry History Museum and took a scavenger hunt around downtown Greenville. The visit to the museum and the scavenger hunt taught me a lot about the history of Greenville and how it has changed over the years. We also had a quality of life day, in which we learned about all that is done to make Greenville a great place to live. I was amazed by the art and culture we have here. I also liked the tour we took of the Greenville Drive stadium. These experiences allowed me to see that there are many things that make Greenville unique.

My peers and I also learned about the problems that exist in our community. We were taken on a tour of Greenville and saw areas that are home to hungry and homeless people. We were also shown what was being done to try to counter these problems. We visited Project Host, where volunteers work to give the hungry hot meals. I think everyone left these experiences wanting to do more for the community.

Leadership Greenville also taught me more about myself as a leader. At the opening retreat, I learned about team building through the activities we did in the Furman low ropes course. Our speakers also taught me more about leadership style and development. One seminar that I really enjoyed was the college and careers workshop. After this workshop, we were given the opportunity to shadow someone from a career in which we were interested. I was able to shadow a Greenville News journalist. I learned a lot about journalism and what goes into the making of a newspaper.

As part of the program, all of the Youth Leadership Greenville participants were asked to do a "Mix-It-Up" project at their school. The intent of the project was to strengthen the relationships between different groups at school. Theresa, Mary Kate and I worked on a project in which two people paired up and brought a dessert to lunch. These two people were then grouped with another pair and enjoyed the shared dessert and lunch together. Through this project, students were able to get to know others better outside of their usual group of friends.

I was sad to see Youth Leadership Greenville come to an end this year. At the graduation ceremony, we heard wonderful speakers and were reminded to be leaders even after we left the program. As gifts, we were given the book Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. The experience of this program has encouraged me be more involved in making my community a better place. I have learned that Greenville is a wonderful city, and each person in the community is needed to help make Greenville great.