Canadian Conference on Student Leadership

What a weekend! After co-founding the Canadian Conference on Student Leadership last year I was extremely excited to be able to partake in the event again this year in a minor capacity. This time around I was able to take in the experience and absorb so much more because I was able to be in the moment. Last year I was always worried about what I was going to have to do next, what problem I was going to have to help solve, and especially when I was going to get my next wink of sleep. This year was the exact opposite. I was able to attend sessions and listen to both the speakers and the participants as they conversed on the gamut of ideas and information. I found myself lost in their words and being touched at my core. The reasons we had started the conference, namely to network with our fellow peers, to gain experience from professionals, and to learn from our peers, was exactly what was occurring on both a micro and a macro level here this year and I was able to witness it without clouded eyes.

This year saw about 175 delegates attend and last year saw 150. That is about 325 leaders that have walked into the conference with open eyes and minds and left with an abundance of new ideas, inspirations and friends. Watching participants who, before the first day had never met, were now able to hug and cry, share their dreams and aspirations, and laugh with complete strangers, was one of the most memorable experiences I could have hoped to experience.

The conference came from an experience that me and 4 other fellow students when we had the privilege, as leadership mentors at Wilfrid Laurier University, to be sent down to Florida to attend the American National Conference on Student Leadership. The last speaker at this conference was Troy Stende, with his wife Karen. It was a dream come true to have Troy come to our conference and present both a keynote and workshop this year. It was at his keynote to close the American conference that our delegation left so utterly inspired that I think that momentum was exactly why we were moved to create our version here in Canada. It is a truly remarkable character that is able to have people laughing, crying, and sharing and believing in complete strangers, and more importantly with themselves. Just an absolutely genuine person, and someone I am very proud to call a friend. 4 years ago I left a conference by telling Troy you made a difference for me. His vision is to send a ripple of difference throughout the world and I don’t know that he will ever understand just how much he has done to accomplish this goal. 325 amazing young leaders have his inspiration to thank for their individual experiences these past two years and he can feel comfortable knowing that the conference will continue on into the future to affect many more young adults.

I want to thank Pat Alain and Melissa Steadman for continuing Kathryn and my legacy and for stepping it up and making it even better. The two of them did a truly remarkable job with the conference and it is due to their diligence and hard work that the conference ran so smoothly and was such a success. Congratulations to the both of them on what they have achieved as I know that it is a long and difficult task to accomplish with many barriers to overcome, but you did it while making it look easy.

I would also like to thank Melanie Will, Leanne Holland-Brown and Drew Piticco for their continued help in making the conference happen. Without their strong passion for student involvement and hard work the conference simply would not be possible. They are remarkable people and I am constantly blown away by their kindness and sincerity. The world is a better place with them in it.

I am not sure I can even remotely describe how amazing the weekend really was. It is one of those experiences where you leave with this feeling in your stomach like things have changed but your not sure just how yet. I saw innumerable instances where students were obviously affected by what they were experiencing. The thanks that students passed along to me (as I happened to be around) for having started the conference was extremely moving. It made me feel proud that I had even an iota of reason for their learning and growing. I would like to say one thing about this, however. I had very little to do with any of their experience. The conference is what it is and participants take what they do because of the people they are and the character they possess. The conference is nothing if not for their passion and involvement. I am thankful for the praise but certainly not deserving of it.

The leaders of both tomorrow and today are people just like the students who attend conferences such as the CCSL. If we have any chance of seeing a significant positive change within this lifetime, it will come from people such as these, who gather to grow and learn from one another how best to make it happen. We need more people in the world to be leaders. We need more people to stand up for what they believe in and help to influence and pass along the leader disposition to other open minded people.