Hard work pays off with trip of a lifetime

While many people get opportunities like free tuition to college or a chance to win a free laptop, I had the opportunity to take the trip of my life.

For the week of May 2-8, I was in Washington, D.C, representing Houston High School’s Business Professionals of America. This was the best decision I have ever made, but getting there was no easy task. Money was a huge factor, but not enough of an obstacle to stop me from going. I raised most of the money in a month by selling labor hours and asking businesses for donations, and it was worth it.

The mission of Business Professionals of America is to contribute to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academics and technology skills. When you compete in BPA at state and take one of the top two places in your event, you automatically earn a spot to compete in nationals, and Houston placed in many of the events as one of the top two.

The only problem was that our club at Houston had never talked about going to nationals, but when the opportunity arose, I wanted to go for the club. Although I didn’t go to compete, I had the chance to bring back information for next year so our club will know what to expect and be prepared for everything.

While I was in D.C., I experienced some pretty cool things. From amazing speakers to sightseeing and museums, this trip was something I will never forget because I learned so much.

The first thing I learned was how to view leadership in a whole new way. When I attended the leadership academy, they told students they weren’t going to teach us how to be better leaders. At first this was strange, but then I got it.

Our guest speaker, Fran Kick, is a well-known motivational speaker. He wanted students to learn how to take a chance. He made us switch seats a lot and meet new people, and then he explained that this was a major skill in leadership because it takes one person who is willing to do something that no one else will do.

As an example, he showed a video of a guy at a concert, and he was the only one dancing. Eventually, another person joined him, and in the end everyone was dancing. He explained that it wasn’t him dancing that made him a leader, but the person who joined him, because in order to be a leader you need followers.

Kick also mentioned that the video was another example of leadership because it only takes one person to make a change, and when they have followers; that’s when they become a leader. While in Washington, D.C., I also experienced many Smithsonian museums.

I visited the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, The White House and many others, but I think the most moving experience for me was the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

At the Holocaust Memorial Museum, I saw what it was like back then and what people had to suffer. I touched real objects from the concentration camps, and felt like I was there.

Most importantly, I discovered a link between the conference experience and the Holocaust Museum. I found out that people want us to stand out and be leaders because of something like the Holocaust.

If someone were to make a move early on and have a few followers, then eventually they could have made a huge difference in history.

Standing out at any time will make a difference when people see how much it will affect their experience.

This trip was amazing and something to never forget.

Brandy Malidore is a sophomore at Houston High School.