Week 3 Review: Peter’s Thoughts

After spending months preparing for the many events of the summer, LEAD 2017 is in the books! It is hard to believe that camp is over for the summer, but was an exciting and challenging experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

We had a fantastic Media Track team for Week 3, covering LEAD’s legislature, local interest topics, the gubernatorial campaign, and much more. So many of y’all went above and beyond, helping assemble name tags, fold papers, and so much more. It is much appreciated! Our track instructors and coaches were top-notch as well, and it was great to have them on board. Media is definitely the best track, and you should plan to sign up for it in 2018! (As the LEAD News Network‘s Executive Producer, I’m definitely not biased at all.)

As an avid politico myself, I’ve been looking forward to Week 3 and the campaign track ever since I started working for SSI in January, and seeing it play out was a blast. Each team gave it their all, and did a great job. I loved getting to help with campaign ads and talking about the nuts and bolts of campaigning with these fantastic folks.

We had (as always) a fantastic team of chaperones and aides-de-camp who gave up an entire week of their time and quite a bit of sleep to make this camp possible. To each and every one of you, thank you. You guys are amazing and this could not happen without you. It was really cool to notice how much love you all poured out to each other throughout the week and especially to the staff. Thanks y’all. Each week of LEAD I’ve been continually amazed by my Student Statesmanship Institute co-workers. I’m overseeing one track and trying to stay on top of tech needs, while they are shouldering the responsibility of running the entire camp and each of its many moving parts, millions of things to remember, and many reasons to go absolutely insane. But each one of them goes above and beyond every day. It’s such a blessing to work with each of you.

Finally, although I may be on staff and overseeing a track, it would be a huge mistake not to take the opportunity to learn some things myself from last week. God’s work and impeccable planning have been evident throughout each week of camp, and it has been really neat to see it play out during this summer. I had front row seats this last week to some pretty awesome examples of maintaining a positive attitude no matter one’s circumstances, never being too busy to help someone out, and being faithful in the little things.

I’m excited to start preparing for next year’s adventure and to see what God has in store for the lives of the next generation of leaders. Stay tuned on Facebook and by signing up to our email updates to make sure you are getting the latest from the SSI team (spoiler: LEAD 2017 photos are coming to Facebook soon!).