Three days after she finished seventh grade at Inly School, Lucy Knox boarded a plane for a week-long World Leadership Forum with People to People in Washington, DC. Lucy was nominated by her history teacher, Tschol Slade, who qualified her as an “outstanding student.” The focus of this particular forum was to develop a greater understanding of the role that leaders, both past and present, have played in developing our nation, while learning leadership skills to bring home.
Before she headed to DC, one part of Lucy’s People to People homework was to articulate what she was looking forward to during her trip. She wrote, “As the end of the school year approached this spring, we started talking a lot about memorials in history class, specifically in terms of the Holocaust. We researched, learned about, and even created our own memorials, so I really look forward to seeing some of these memorials in person. I also look forward to seeing where some of the most important decisions for our country were made and how they are remembered today.”
Some highlights of the week included:
- A visit to the Library of Congress
- A tour of the Capitol Building
- A trip to Gettysburg
- An exploration of the Eisenhower Farm, once the weekend retreat of People to People founder, Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Time at plenty of museums such as the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Newseum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the International Spy Museum, and more
- Paying homage at several memorials including the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and others
- Watching the changing of the guard at the Arlington National Cemetery
- A viewing of the White House (Lucy reports that Bo, the First Dog, was on the lawn with the presidential dog walker)
“Overall, this was an incredible experience,” Lucy said. “I had the opportunity to visit historic sites, meet many new people, try new things, and learn so much. I would highly recommend a People to People trip!”
Reflections on Reflecting
“Having gone to Inly, I have learned so many valuable transferable skills,” Lucy said upon her return, “including the ability to look at any given situation through various different lenses, to discuss themes on an in-depth level, to go through daily reflections on our contributions to the group and to ourselves, and possibly most importantly, to take time to reflect on what we have learned about ourselves and how we have grown through the experience.”
“Because of my ‘training’ at Inly, I was able to take the journaling at People to People to a deeper level. So instead of just documenting ‘what I did today’ it was natural for me to reflect and write about ‘what I learned about myself today’ or ‘ how I contributed to my community’ or ‘how I can apply my knowledge somewhere else.’
“At Inly, I have learned how to do this meaningful reflection, and most importantly, I have learned how to apply this skill set to other situations. I can proudly say that because of Inly, I gained so much more out of the People to People experience than I would have otherwise.”