This year, the Rotary Clubs in the Tri-Cities graciously sponsored eight of our members (Eli, Danielle, Eric, Rasmeet, Tirath, Sarah A, Camilla, and Raj) to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards held at a beautiful campsite at the foot of Mt. Baker in Washington. 53 young leaders aged 18-30 from throughout Rotary District 5050 (encompassing most of the Fraser Valley and Washington north of Seattle) participated in four days of activities and presentations revolving around leadership, service, ethics, and personal growth. A team of Facilitators, past participants who were invited back to RYLA to lead activities and group debriefs, included another of our members, Jordan, who was a RYLA participant in 2011.

Without spoiling the surprise for future participants, in the words of our members who attended, RYLA was “absolutely life changing”, “fun and full of great people”, and “not at all what [they] expected”. While the take-home message was different for everyone, the best description we were able to come up with together was that RYLA is “a place to figure out what barriers you have that would prevent you from success and to help you break down those barriers”. Not to mention the food all weekend was absolutely fantastic!

One of our favorite parts of RYLA, however, were all the new friends we made including the five new members of the Tri-Cities Rotaract club whom we brought back with us! Please join us in giving a very warm welcome to Chantal, Lauren, Parm, Chris, and Michelle – we are excited to have you on board and can’t wait to see what you each bring to the table!

Thank you again to the Rotary Clubs of the Tri-Cities for graciously sending so many of us to RYLA this year. Visit our Facebook page for more photos from this year’s RYLA. For more information about RYLA, please visit www.ryla5050.org or get in touch with your local Rotary club – who knows, maybe you could end up participating next year!