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There really is no way for the MLS Board of Directors to explain the impact that the Missouri Leadership Seminar on the lives of the students and staff that have the opportunity to attend. Having said that, we thought the best way to enlighten schools, parents, volunteers and our supporters was to go directly to the source, the alumni and staff. Chris Hager The one thing that keeps me coming back year after year is the transformation I see in the ambassadors. When a three-day experience can cause such dramatic positive changes at a fundamental level…that is a very powerful thing. I am proud to be a part of it! Scott Cantrell MLS has been one of the most positive and profound experiences of my life. It still inspires me every year I return as staff, and seeing the affect that this experience has on the ambassadors keeps me coming back. Matt McLaughlin 2001 Ambassador, Lee’s Summit High School As hard as I may try, MLS cannot be put into words. It is something that is felt and it is something that becomes a part of you. Leadership becomes part of your life, your actions. People who have been a part of the leadership conference exude an increased amount of activity with positivity. Rachel White 2003 Ambassador, Tarkio High School “MLS immediately enabled me to engage in leadership roles in my school, community, and church. The strengths that I acquired have followed me to college and have opened the door for more leadership roles and great opportunities. MLS gave me the courage to go out on a limb and pursue my dreams, not someone else’s dream for me. Doing this has brought me to an amazing place in life and I have never been happier. I owe so much of my success to MLS. However, MLS not only changed my life, it became a part of my life. The friendships that I have formed are incredible and I now have a second family that I can count on for anything. Words don’t really do justice to explain it all; MLS is something you just have to experience to understand.” Heather Dickson The MLS conference is absolutely FANTABULOUS! It helped to pull me out of my shell during my Ambassador year. Now that I’ve been a JuFa for the past 3 years, I’ve had the opportunity to see others jump out of their shells. Any program that can do that is amazing and worth anyone’s time and energy.” Kelsey Stuff MLS is more than just another summer camp. Though disguised as a leadership seminar, it is really a seminar about finding your best qualities and learning how to use them effectively. Always having fun, learning along the way! Paul Mintner 2004 Ambassador, Higginsville High School “I attended the Missouri Leadership Seminar in the summer of 2004 and my experiences there have led me to being where I am today. I wouldn't be attending Kansas State University if it weren't for MLS' influence and support. MLS empowered me to be a leader and servant of others” Sommer Henderson 2004 Ambassador, Kickapoo High School ”When people ask me to describe MLS, I can't seem to find the perfect words. It's like magic. It's something that is so hard to explain and so hard to understand unless you really lived the MLS experience.” “MLS is truly a new beginning. I came in knowing not a single person and left with new best friends and a second family. It's like living in a perfect world: a place where no one judges anyone and it's considered normal to be yourself, even if it might be different from everyone else. I learned so many leadership skills to take with me back to my hometown, and I owe so much of who I am today, a strong individual who isn't afraid to be myself, and always up for leading others, to MLS. MLS is leaders teaching leaders at its finest. You won't meet better people than MLS alumni.” ”Everyone that comes through the seminar takes a little bit of MLS back to their community.” Maria Holt 2004 Ambassador, Southern Boone County High School “The reason MLS is so powerful for me is that it not only allows me to be unafraid in expressing myself and my ideas, but it allows me to touch the lives of so many unique and wonderful people, in such a positive way. It always amazes me how in the space of three days people grow so much, both individual and together. I feel like everyone who comes to the seminar becomes a part of me and my life, because as I touch each of their lives, they also reach back and change mine. It’s such a powerful feeling knowing that within you lies the ability to change the world and make it a better place, and beyond that, that you are not alone in that goal. I think the one thing that MLS really has taught me is that the best thing you can do with your life is to help someone else. MLS is truly a profound experience, and once you go through it, you will never be the same again.” Kara Fatino “I believe this program is an excellent way for rising leaders to achieve their full potential through educational activities and the support of their high school and adult facilitators. Even though the seminar only last three days, one would be surprises how effective the seminar is. I attended the seminar as an ambassador during the summer before my junior year. I can still recall the look on my mother’s face during the ride home and how she kept telling me I had changed so much. After the seminar, I vowed to do everything I could to be an exceptional leader within my school and community. It was what inspired me to become a facilitator at the same seminar. I want other students to be affected the same way I was by the program.” Chance Whittle When I first heard I’d been accepted to MLS, I was pretty excited, but kind of scared. When I arrived at CMSU, I was worried about what people would think of me, but when people got up and started dancing around I couldn’t stop laughing. Over that weekend, my life changed, I changed; I became more open and carefree. MLS was the greatest experience I’ve ever felt. Expect for pizza and Dr. Pepper. Alyssa Sams
Everyone asks you to describe MLS, but that’s almost impossible to do, especially to new ambassadors. It is absolutely amazing. It was so much fun; never a dull moment! It’s a great experience for absolutely everyone! It brings everyone out of their shell, so everyone is loud and friendly, and it’s a completely unique experience! Tabi Carwile “Last summer, I attended MLS. I have been at leadership camps before, but nothing compares to MLS. My JuFa and SuFa helped me discover myself so much, how I can be myself and have a good time leading other people. They taught me how to be carefree and not care about what others think about me, just about what I love doing. It was amazing and I can’t wait to do the same for the ambassadors this year.” Chelsey Crissinger “When at MLS 2006 as a student ambassador, I can in really shy and quite scared, knowing I had no idea who anyone was, however, that all changed VERY quickly. I learned how to open myself up to people and share who I was. I started putting myself out there and getting to know more and more people. It was so amazing. I became really close with my family group and took everything I got from them with me when the seminar came to a close. I was inspired by all the other ambassadors, JuFa’s and SuFa’s, and I’ve never forgotten the time we got to share in the field on our last night. Testimonials poured out of the mouths of ambassadors as we all listened and cried together, giving hugs and comforting words and many among many thanks, even though that was the main rule to the activity, no thank you’s to the Board of Directors. Even s I pour out my heart in my own testimonial, I THANK everyone who works to pull this outstanding seminar together.” Ashley Dempsey My experience at MLS was amazing! Friends there are forever and unforgettable! My learning experience is something I’ve learned and will use for the rest of my life. My JuFa and SuFa were unreal! I felt as if I could tell them anything, as for my group too. I don’t have to act a certain way to impress them and I can be me! Alec Eckard “MLS has helped me become who I am today. It has helped me become a better person, a better leader and to be more open. I hope that all who attend have as good as an experience as I did and that they can take a lot away from MLS to bring back to their schools.” Andy Noelker “My time at MLS has been one of the best experiences in my life. I opened up in ways that I didn’t think possible and met some amazing people. I feel like I really honed some leadership skills that have helped me back at school, as well as learning a lot that will help me in my future life. I also learned a lot about myself in the process. I am so thankful for this awesome time and can’t wait to contribute more.” Alexa Perry “Last year I attended MLS for the first year and it was amazing. It helped me open up to some things I couldn’t exactly see. I got to the point where I could open up easily to people and talk to them when I was at the seminar. I was able to be myself and that’s something that’s hard for me to do in everyday life. So, MLS has helped me change and it helped me be able to accept who I am and realize that if people don’t like who I am, that’s fine, because it’s better to be myself than to be someone I’m not.” Kristin Wilmes “While at MLS, I was exposed to positive attitudes and fun-loving people. I learned so much from this experience about leadership and responsibility. MLS teaches everyone about certain issues in the world, that we, as leaders, can take upon ourselves to improve. I enjoyed this camp so much that I returned as a JuFa. This positive experience has truly made a difference in my life.” Samantha Besselman 2006 Ambassador, Fort Zumwalt North High School “MLS is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. While you are there all of the Facilitators keep saying how these three days will change your life. I just went along with it because most seminars you attend, you will hear this, but it never really happens. When I returned home, that is when I realized..... IT TRULY HAD CHANGED MY LIFE!!! I wanted to be a better person and not care what other people thought of me. I knew more about myself and I had made friends that I hoped would last for a lifetime. I still talk to some of them three or four times a week. As I said this seminar was truly amazing and as all of the other Facilitators said, "This seminar will change you life!" Laura Giebler 2006 Ambassador, Gasconade County High School “Wow! Where do I begin? I knew right from the start when I arrived at MLS that the weekend was going to be a blast. Kara, a JuFa (Junior Facilitator), immediately came up to my car and helped me take my things into the dorms. Everyone greeted me with smiles. The energy of the weekend just made everything so fun! With the cheers and the skit we performed. I loved it all. The weekend wasn't just about having fun though. It was all constant fun but we learned how to become better leaders with energy. I learned never to let anything get me down because people are watching what I do. Once I entered my first day of school after MLS I realized that everything was going to be different from then on. I have found myself able to easily walk up to someone who I don't know or at least not that well, and carry on a conversation. I have been fortunate to have some of the same teachers this year as I had in the past and many have told my parents and I that they have noticed a change, a good change. Thanks to MLS I have become more outgoing and a better mentor to my friends. My leadership skills have skyrocketed. Thank you MLS!” Michael Crawford 2006 Ambassador, Puxico High School "MLS is one of the best, most fun things I have ever done in my life. I went there with some leadership qualities, and came out a true leader. MLS has taught me so much, and helped me express my ideas and qualities to other people around me. Thanks to MLS, I am now running for major leadership positions in my clubs and in my school, and everyone around me can see me becoming the a leader of these things." Toni Grass 2006 Ambassador, Valle High School “MLS is so amazing and it is such a happy place. I loved making new friends and I loved to become a part of a wonderful family of amazing people.” Sarah & Jerry Vaughan Volunteers for the MLS Board of Directors, Grain Valley, Missouri Our daughter, Hannah, was an Ambassador in 1998. She returned as a Junior Facilitator (“JuFa’) every year until she turned 21. Since her seminar year, she has won various awards, studied and traveled abroad, graduated from college and is now entering graduate school. To this day, she still marks her time at the seminar as one of the most life changing events she has experienced. Beverly Shelton, GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) Representative MLS Board of Directors, Independence, Missouri Since my first experience with “Lunch with a Pro” participant in 1986 and then working actively for many years as the Director of Facilities, I have met and observed many outstanding leaders as they developed through the years. Due to my age, I must now limit my involvement to Board of Directors meetings, serving as TRAIL Chairman for the GFWC of Missouri to secure GFWC club support throughout the state and getting club members in my own GFWC district to provide DOZENS & DOZENS & DOZENS of homemade cookies for the seminar. It has been a great experience and I cherish the many friends that I have made in my 20 years working with the Youth Leadership Seminars! |
