Off to the Races

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, YLOK Class XIV has officially begun. This is the 14th year of the program, (as denoted by the roman numerals XIV) but this class has something special. Something that can make it unlike any other class. I have not quite figured out what that is yet, but I just know they are something special.

As tradition, the program begins with some awkward times and a lot of silence. But as time spent together increases, the awkwardness and silence decreases, proportionally, of course. I'm sure there's some formula or something that can be used to find the exact answer, but by the amount of chatter and laughter I hear as I'm typing, I can assure you that bonding has already begun to happen among the members of this awesome class.

The opening ceremony/welcome starts with "Buddies" welcoming the members of the new class. The "Buddies" are members of YLOK Class XIII who came to greet the members of this year's class and make sure they get comfortable. From there, our fearless leader, LeeAnne Stone, began the day with a  simple explanation as to what Youth Leadership Oklahoma is, and more importantly what Leadership Oklahoma, our parent organization is. I say parent organization because YLOK is for student who have just finished their junior year of high school and LOK is for adults, so kinda like parents. After Bruce Benbrook discussed what parents of the students attending YLOK will be experiencing, members from last year's class gave testimonials of their experience. Superlatives and other words exclaiming the joy that accompanied the trip were used in abundance.

After all the welcomes had taken place and the parents and "Buddies" had been dismissed, the ice breakers began. If you can't picture 50 seventeen-year-olds interacting together for the first time, just imagine a lot of loud talking and plenty of laughs, almost like a happy reunion, but filled with introductions. There's also a lot of "Oh! You're from ________!? Do you know ______??" as they begin to find mutual friends and build their own network. From there, we had a wonderful dinner catered from Cheever's as Lance McDaniel, the Executive Director of the deadCENTER Film Festival, spoke.

Lance is a well-accomplished Oklahoman. After attending Alva, Purcell, Edmond, and Heritage Hall Schools, he then headed off to Stanford for college. Although he always had a passion for film, he worked at a internet consulting firm that led him all over. At the age of 34, however, he decided to follow his passions and pursue film. So he moved back to Oklahoma and dove into the film industry. After working with stars from Morgan Freeman to Jessica Alba, Lance worked his way up to directing films. A big desire of his, though, continued to be promoting film in Oklahoma. After several years in the film industry, he soon came to help with the deadCENTER Film Festival. deadCENTER is an annual festival that actually begins this week (June 11th-15th) in downtown OKC. It has grown tremendously in recent years and continues to promote the film industry in Oklahoma. Lance then discussed how following your passions can lead to the career you may have for the rest of your life. It was an inspiring, comical talk showing off an growing industry in Oklahoma.

Once that was over, we quickly made our way down the street to our hotel for the night where I sit typing this blog. The students are getting acclimated and accustomed to each other. I can literally see the friendships building before my eyes. As I said, these kids are something special. Tomorrow we head to a ropes course at the University of Oklahoma, but with an 80% chance of rain, who knows what is going to happen. Joy fills my heart as I type this, knowing that these incredible kids are in for the time of their life.

Until tomorrow,

Andy Stewart
Student, Optimist, aspiring Catalyst.