Every Week Should Be a Learning Week

I had been informed about it in the beginning and heard about it from other YPNers all summer long and FINALLY it was my turn! LEARNING WEEK! All summer long other YPN participants had left camp for one week to go back to Vancouver and had a set of meetings scheduled with other non-profits and NGOs. It seemed like forever ago that I filled out my interest form. I was so focused on learning how to better manage and retain volunteers as well as expand global and leadership development programs, as these were the things most relevant to my job. But the thing about learning week is you realize that your interests are just as varied as the number of organizations that you meet with.

Amanda explained a theory by John Maxwell to us at our Leadership Expereince last spring called the "Law of the Lid". This theory operates on the principle that when you are satisfied with your accomplishments and don't strive to see how much further you can go, you put a lid on your leadership potential. A true leader keeps the lid very high. They keep striving and pushing their limits to see what else is possible. They can see the bigger picture and they imagine an even bigger one. Learning week has raised the lid for me. And I intend to blow that lid right off.

As I come to the end of this experience I realize more and more how different my perspective on the YPN program, camp, and Canada as a whole has changed. I joined the YPN thinking I had a lot of things figured out and knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish during my time here. I now look back at the last 2 months and realize that my most eye opening moments had nothing to do with any of the reasons why I came here. But they will stay with me as I go back.

If I could give just one piece of advice to a future YPNer or Butler student or anyone really it would be to keep an open mind. Talk to people you wouldn't normally talk to, go to places you wouldn't normally visit and you will learn things you never knew you wanted to learn. Make every week a learning week by pushing your lid and seeing what else is out there. Be open to new experiences, ideas and points of view and they will open you up to a whole new world.