Christopher's Journey to the National Young Leaders Conference

Day 1 at NYLC: Exploring Leadership in the Nation's Capital (10/20/09)

In his first Leadership Group Meeting (LGM), Christopher engaged in icebreakers with his peers. Once the scholars began to feel comfortable with their new friends, they brainstormed expectations that will govern their LGM throughout the week. Christopher also received an introduction to the first of three educational simulations in which he will participate during the course of NYLC, entitled "If I Were President." This simulation will give Christopher a better understanding of the executive decision-making process and reveal how decisions made at the presidential level have world-wide significance.

Day 2 at NYLC: Exploring Leadership in the Nation's Capital (10/21/09)

Today Christopher and his fellow scholars tackled the busy NYLC schedule with enthusiasm! Christopher spent the morning engaged in the "If I Were President" simulation introduced yesterday. Christopher took on the role of an advisor or the president in a fictional administration. In his role, Christopher tackled a foreign policy crisis over a conflict between Russia and the United States. When you speak with Christopher, be sure to ask him what role he played and how the scholars decided to resolve the crisis.

In the afternoon, Christopher and his peers participated in site discoveries at some of Washington, D.C.'s most honored and moving memorials: the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Back at the conference center, Christopher chose from a wide menu of hour-long workshops headed by community leaders on varied themes, including social entrepreneurship, public speaking strategies, human rights and international volunteerism.

Day 3 at NYLC: Exploring Leadership in the Nation's Capital (10/22/09)

Today's NYLC schedule afforded Christopher a special opportunity to interact with the lawmakers and staffers who determine our nation's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill! The day began with a welcome address delivered from the floor of the House of Representatives. Christopher and his fellow scholars sat in the actual chairs used by House members! After the House floor, Christopher proceeded to his congressional appointments. These meetings with representatives, senators or staffers gave Christopher a chance to challenge our nation's elected leaders with tough questions and get a firsthand view of life and work on Capitol Hill.

In the evening, Christopher switched his focus from legislative matters to judicial topics, engaging in the "Testing the Constitution" simulation. After reviewing yesterday's discussion of the role of the Supreme Court, a history of some of its most famous decisions and an introduction to legal reasoning and debate, Christopher jumped right into the simulation. With his fellow scholars members playing the roles of justices and attorneys for the petitioner and respondent, Christopher debated whether the constitution and case law favored a car passenger's Fourth Amendment right to privacy or a police officer's need for safety during a traffic stop. The details of this simulation were taken from the real-life case of Arizona v. Johnson 

She remembers being on the children’s choir, the Rosebuds. As a pre-teen and teenager she participates in teen summits, girls’ spiritual preparatory classes and the youth praise dance team, Combustible Praise. She enjoyed fellowshipping with her peers during Youth Department sponsored camping trips, professional basketball game and football games excursions. Danielle acknowledges the benefits of growing up surrounded by her church family. She recognizes several ministers, youth leaders, Bible Study teachers and especially Pastor and Mother Baxter for interceding on her behalf and encouraging her “in their own unique ways.” She will always be grateful for encouraging her to do her best scholastically, to be her own unique person and to work hard. As she looks back, she now realizes that those teen summit discussions challenged her mentally, leading her to think about her life and future, both naturally and spiritually.  Despite all of her hard work and accomplishments, Danielle realizes that she never could have done it own her own and praises God for being surrounded by great prayer warriors, especially Pastor Baxter, for showing their how much they care by praying for her throughout her life and most of all guiding her to develop a prayer life of her own.