EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part three of a three-part series. Part one ran on page 16A in the Oct. 10-11 weekend edition of The Mining Journal, while part two ran on page 16A of the Oct. 17-18 edition.

The next day was the last day of the leadership camp I attended in Maryland (to read about my full week at the leadership camp visit the Mining Journal website and search 8-18 Media). I had been at camp for four days and on the last day of camp the overnight campers would sleepover at the Maryland Science Center, but I would leave before then. Before I had to leave I was able to listen to a keynote speaker. His name was Anthony Robles. He’s an American wrestler who won the 2010-11 NCAA wrestling championship, despite being born with one leg. It was really inspiring to hear his story,and afterward, we all got to take a photo with him. After that, we had a short time to finish up our voices of change projects (we had been working on them occasionally throughout the week) and then we went to see a showcase of all the projects! This was probably one of my favorite parts. We got to walk around the room and look at the other posters, which was really fun. My group rotated who stayed at the poster and presented. I had lots of fun explaining our idea and the research we did.After that was the closing ceremony, then it was time to go. I said goodbye to everyone in my LFG (Leadership Focus Group), and to another girl who I became close friends with during camp. She lives in California and we were in the same hotel, which was how we met. I still keep in touch with her to this day. Even though the camp was over, my family still had one more day in Maryland. On Friday we took a tour of Mount Vernon which is where George Washington lived. We took a ferry there. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on board and then walked around Mount Vernon. I thought it was pretty interesting learning about how the house was made and the materials used. I also liked seeing the kitchen. Unfortunately, that was our last full day in Washington D.C. The next day we got on a plane and flew back to Marquette. I really enjoyed the experience, and I learned a lot about being a leader. There were a lot of great things that happened during the camp, but my favorite was meeting a new friend, who I still keep in touch with to this day, and I hope one day I can visit her in California!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Esme Ulland-Joy is 12. She is in the 7th grade this year.