Last summer, juniors Nina Menon and Gillian King attended the Hugh O’ Brian Youth Leadership Conference. This conference, also called HOBY, was held at Elmhurst College. Most of the activities they did were small group activities and talks. The conference lasted three days and taught them about service and leadership.

The conference focused mainly on ways to make a difference in the world and on self-discovery.

According to King, “They taught you a lot about … self discovery, who are you, what matters to you, and given what you’ve been given in life, what you can do to make the world a better place.”

It gave its attendants ideas for clubs to start, service projects to do, and other ways to be a leader. It also gave them oppurtunities to do a service project while they were there, so that they could experience how leadership can be used to help those around you.

Last school year, both Menon and King were able to apply to go to this conference. Normally, only one sophomore would have been able to attend the conference. However, this year both girls were chosen to attend.  Because both Menon and King had shown great interest in leadership, both students were chosen to represent Regina Dominican.

The experience of going to HOBY seemed to positively affect both girls. For example, Gillian King said that it inspired her to start a service club at Regina, which she plans to do before senior year. In their junior years, both girls have continued to be leaders in their school and communities after attending the workshops. Overall, HOBY seems like a great way to learn about leadership and your place in the world around you.