Since November, I have been apart of a selected group at school to organize a province wide leadership conference. Through these past few months I have learned so much about organization and leadership, became closer with students, and had such a good time.

Think of every little detail that you can about a conference. From speakers, to T-Shirt sizes, to what we were going to eat we had to figure out every little aspect. We met 2-3 times every week, finding an answer to every question we could compose.

The three main things I was in charge of were T-shirts, banners and posters, and food.

Organizing the T-shirts seems like a pretty chill job however, I don’t think I’ve ever been more stressed out in my life. I was like some crazy business lady on the phone all day. The due date for ordering the T-shirts (with logos) happened to be the day we got back to school after Christmas break, however I couldn’t place the order;

We. Had. No. Logo.

We somehow forgot to create a logo that needed to be on the T-shirts, and I had to find an artist in the school who could make this for me literally over night.

Luckily, I managed to make the due date for the T-shirts a couple days later, and I found a very talented artist wiling to give up her time to help us out. I somehow managed to place the order before the due date, and (thank goodness) they were successfully delivered.

Another aspect I was in charge of were the banners. I spent many lunch hours and days after school creating two (very large) banners to go in front of the Lecture Theatre and the Single Gym.

To be honest, I don’t really know how I got myself into this job. I am not a very ‘artsy’ person and I am not very creative in this area. Despite my lack of artistic creativity and abilities, along with my friend we managed to produce two gorgeous banners. I had so much fun creating them, and it really helped me make the best of a bad situ
ation and finding alternate routes (especially when the banner is due the next day and the art room is closed), and it really helped me just let loose.

The final thing that was one of my main responsibilities I enjoyed very very much. I got to go taste testing for our lunch options. With four other students and one of my favourite teachers we went out for lunch for some tasty food and happened to miss some school, literally a dream come true.

My teacher took us to ‘Jone’s Bar-B-Que’ . We wanted to be unique with our food options, staying away from the typical sandwich and juice box. We chose pulled pork sandwiches (the best I have ever had), and house made chips. It was simple, tasty and enjoyable.

Choosing the main topics and workshops for this conference was very difficult. After endless meetings with countless arguments, we decided that our main idea is accepting diversity and then reaching the stage to connect with others and be better leaders (that’s how we decided the name ‘Accepting 2 Connecting’). Our other main point is embracing your weird. Everyone has something weird about them, and if we learn to accept them instead of hiding them we would all be so much more unique, and different. Let me know what yours is by leaving a comment!

We had workshops about confidence, servant leadership, diversity, mindfulness, and embracing your weird. At the end of the conference we all gathered outside for our final activity. It’s called a Holi Powder Celebration .

We were all given a packet of coloured powder (don’t worry, it doesn’t stain), and at the same time we would throw it all in the air to show that we all having something different and unique to bring, but when we all come together and connect we can create something beautiful.

I had so much fun organizing this conference. It was such a good experience to see how much effort and work goes into planning a leadership conference. Being able to have a voice in what I was going to learn was incredible. I learned that it’s okay to be different and I need to accept people for who they are. Remember, embrace your weird! 😛

Click here to view our promo video for the conference about embracing your weird!