The Young Leader

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High School Traditions Teens Shouldn’t Miss

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As your high school experience comes to an end, you’re probably frantically trying to piece together where your next chapter begins. It’s nerve wracking, it’s frightening, and it’s probably one of the biggest decisions you’ve ever made in life. While it’s important to focus on where you’re going next, don’t get distracted and forget to enjoy the moments you are in.

Senior year brings together many memorable experiences that shouldn’t be missed or distracted from including Homecoming Week, Prom, and especially Graduation. You may have seen the same faces for the last four years, some even since middle school or elementary, so spending more time together during high school traditions may seem repetitious, but truly it’s very important to stay connected.

These are some of the moments you will remember throughout your lifetime- and might even be a reason to spark up conversation during your 10 year reunion! Unlike the strict energy of school, during these moments you get to unwind, have fun, and will truly get to know one another. You might think you know everything about everyone you pass in the hallway, but you don’t, and by taking advantage of these traditions, you might even make a new friend that you thought you knew all along.

Homecoming week starts off the reality that most of these familiar faces will merely be memories after a few short months. It’s important to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with one another and see how many acquaintances you can make friends before the upcoming year is over. The more you connect with people, the more life experience you add to your resume, and that is worth more than staying silent in your comfort zone.

Prom is another experience that shouldn’t be missed. There’s too many reasons not to go, but the bottom line is this is the last round of fun you have with the students in your class. Even if you go to be a wall flower, you made the effort to make an appearance and experience what the hype is all about. When you are 40, you won’t be regretting “that one time you went to prom.” Instead, you might be giving your own kid a pep talk about why it was one of the best nights of your life because an unforgettable speech was given or your high school crush asked you to dance.

Graduation is definitely the top tradition not to miss out on. It’s not just a walk across a stage for your family and friends, it’s for you. It’s a confident strut to confirm the hard work and obstacles you have overcome as a young adult. It’s a walk to start the beginning of your transition to adulthood. It’s a moment to congratulate yourself for all that you’ve done and that you do. Take it and run with it, not literally, but figuratively. Decorate your cap, perfect your walk, even your wave, and be proud of everything you have done to get on that stage and accept your diploma. It’s your moment to shine.

After your high school traditions are over, you will be looking back on your memories over many years. You’ll remember how sweet and simple life seemed before you stepped into the fast pace of the world, grateful to have traditional high school memories to share with friends and family.

 

Contributed by Barbara Beran

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Step Outside Yourself – 5 Quotes for an Inspiring Adventurer

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“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu

What’s your favorite meme, that quote, that sentiment, that thing you see posted by one of your friends on Facebook that makes you laugh out loud in the middle of Starbucks or share to a million people not even caring if you get a “Like” because you know it’s that good? Here are five of our favorite, get-off-your-cupcake-and-get-moving quotes that reach us in that same place—we laugh out loud, we sigh, we nod our heads, we get inspired, we step outside ourselves…

1. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” Augustine of Hippo

Who said travel had to be a sweat? Don’t let one more day go by without considering where you would be without your favorite books of adventures lived and tales told. The greatest stories of our lives are written on the pages of our imaginations. Go on then…Imagine!

2. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” Anita Desai

If you want to know what it truly means to lose yourself, take a trip as a volunteer. Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and plant a seed in their garden. You will not only leave with a new vision of the world, you will arrive with a new vision of yourself.

3. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

If you never leave the comfort of your own home and community, you will never know what drives the machine we call this planet. Find out who your neighbors are over there in the hills and valleys of a China day or down there in South America or the Caribbean where the sea is the color only an artist could paint. Get to know new people in their own back yard and come away with glasses that make what was plain and dull, high def.

4.“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Gustave Flaubert

If you want to lend a helping hand in places where help is scarce, consider studying abroad as a volunteer. This is a big world and your travel time could mean more than just a stamp in your passport. Make a difference starting with one step, one trip, one life.

5. “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.” Hans Christian Anderson

You’ve got to give a little. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen what giving can do far from home and your circle of friends. Make new acquaintances, and new friends, in a world you could not have imagined if you didn’t leave your doorstep.

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Why Teens Love Instagram – a Manifesto to Parents Who Don’t Get It

Ever wonder why teens are on Instagram like all the time?

Rather than only listening to what advertisers want to scare you into believing (such as in the article above), perhaps you had the slightest hunch that there’s more to this story…

Chances are that you might be a parent who—despite your best efforts—just doesn’t understand Instagram. In which case you’ve come to the right place!

If you’re a teen that wants to convince your parents that Instagram’s awesome (or at least to stop rolling their eyes), then you’re also in for an edumacational treat!

We’ll start with the most basic question to get everyone up to speed.

 

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a smartphone application that shares pictures and short videos. You can enhance your media, through various filters, and then post it.

It’s motto is Capture and Share the World’s Moments.

If you’re really old school, it’s like scrapbooking with your phone. For those of you more familiar with social media, the following comparisons might help:

Instagram is like Twitter where you accumulate followers and have short posts but with more of a visual focus. Much like Facebook, you get notifications about your friends’ activities and can “like” or comment on whatever they post.

For example, this sunset took me less than a minute to post on Instagram.

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Why teens (and everyone else) love it

The following three features make Instagram especially attractive:

  1. Simple
  2. Free
  3. Beautiful.

These days, nearly everyone and their grandma has a smartphone. It’s also not hard to see that a lot more people carry their phones around instead of a camera. That’s what makes it special—you can easily capture and then share irreplaceable moments with your friends.

These can be funny, cute, avant garde, and often breathtaking.

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For teens specifically, these can include incredible travel and volunteer moments.

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There’s more to these posts than just beauty or novelty—Instagram is a media blog that connects people with similar values and interests.

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Many young people also use Instagram to challenge stereotypes, such as Paola Mathé’s pictures, which got featured in this Huffington Post article:

Young People Use Gorgeous Instagram Pics To Show There’s More To Haiti Than Poverty.

Like any social platform, there are positive ways to use it, and there are times when it’s only a distraction. Now that you know, try not to get addicted yourself!

Contributed by Nick Fochtman

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7 Games You Can Use to Engage with Children on a Volunteer Abroad Program

 

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Do you love to work with kids and volunteer, but are not exactly sure what to do to keep them entertained? Well, problem solved! Here are seven ways to engage with kids while you are on a volunteer program abroad (or even while you’re watching all your little cousins over the holidays):

1) Relay Races

Split the kids up into different lines and have them do various activities back and forth across a space, such as running, hopping, skipping, crab walk, etc. This teaches them to work as a team and encourage one another. Make sure they clap and cheer; the louder, the better!

2) Simon Says

One person is “Simon” and gives an instruction while the other kids do that action; if the person does not say “Simon says…”, the action does not count. This game teaches kids to listen more effectively and to pay attention to details. Plus, if you let the kids take turns being “Simon,” they will learn to think creatively and lead.

3) Sharks and Minnows

One person is the shark and the rest of the kids are the minnows. The shark stands in the middle of a space and tries to catch all the minnows as they run across the room; if a minnow is tagged, it too becomes a shark until the game is over. This game can help build teamwork because, as more kids become “sharks,” they will learn that they will have to cooperate with and help each other in order to catch all the minnows.

4) Capture the Flag

Divide the kids into two teams and give each team an object to use as their “flag.” After they hide their flag, the teams then have to work together to find the other team’s flag and capture it without getting tagged. This game really emphasizes teamwork, and it also can teach kids about strategy as they think about how to work together to “capture the flag.”

5) Blocker Ball or “Gaga Ball”

If you have a couple of dodge balls or playground balls on hand, divide the kids into two teams and give each team a ball. The game is then like dodge ball, except you can only hit a person from the waist or below to get them “out,” and the teams can go on either side; there is no dividing line. Again, this game teaches kids about cooperation because they will have to toss the balls to each other and work together to defeat the opposite team. It’s a fun, fast-paced game that kids love, and it’s less painful than dodge ball, which is a plus.

6) Ninja

If you have older kids, this is a fun game. Have the children stand in a circle. The goal is to tag the two people on either side of you by tagging their hand. However, you can only do it one move at a time. So each person goes around taking turns making their one “ninja” move and trying to slap the other person’s hand, and if their hand is tagged, they are out. This game can help develop motor skills and teach kids to think and react quickly.

7) What Time is It, Mr. Wolf?

Have one child be the wolf and stand behind a line facing away from the other kids. Have the other kids stand at a starting point and ask “What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” Depending on the wolf’s answer, the kids will take that number of steps forward (i.e. if the wolf says it is 5:00, the kids will take five steps). If however, the wolf says it is “lunch time,” the wolf will turn around and try to tag all the kids until they either make it across the wolf’s line or make it back to the starting point. This game teaches kids to listen to directions, and if you let each of the kids be the “wolf” throughout the game, it also can teach kids to take turns and be patient.

Trust me, both you and the kids will have a blast playing these simple and fun games. Make sure you check out all the cool volunteer programs that Global Leadership Adventures has to offer, and if you have any other fun game ideas to play with kids while you are abroad or at home, tell us below! We’d love to hear your suggestions.

Contributed by Addie Davis

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