Education comes in many forms.
It doesn’t only take place in a classroom setting. It also comes through life experience, inspiration and empowerment, as well as through the act of overcoming challenges that stand in the way of success.
More than 1,200 teens converged Thursday at the newly named Dignity Health Convention Center in downtown Bakersfield to attend the 25th annual Leaders in Life Youth Conference, a place where students had the chance to explore issues that matter most to them — whether it’s mental health, substance abuse, leadership, time management, social media or planning for their future.
“I think the most important thing people should understand about the leadership conference is it’s an opportunity for our young people to learn from their peers,” said Anastasia Lester, a volunteer Leaders in Life adviser.
On Thursday, the guests were exposed to two young keynote speakers who were willing to share through student-driven interaction the difficulties and challenges they experienced during their own teen years — challenges that could have left them unable to recover and go on to build lives of leadership and personal freedom.
Speaker Ashley Bendiksen, who became homeless at 19, told the more than 1,000 students that it wasn’t until she learned to advocate for herself that she was able to get past the effects of debilitating bullying and psychological abuse during her teen years.
Lester, the Leaders in Life adviser, said she has been working with these youth for several years, and she can’t count the number of positive “light bulb moments,” individual teens have experienced.
“I think what’s really incredible about this program and the reason I’ve done it for so many years is it gives me hope, it reminds me that whatever everybody on the outside is saying, they haven’t had the opportunity to work with these kids, they haven’t had the opportunity to see these faces.”
All 1,200 students had the chance to break off into smaller groups of about 100 to attend a number of workshops at the conference on topics such as career readiness, diversity training, navigating the teen world and the universal challenge of time management.
“Fifty-five percent of high school students report being stressed due to trouble with time management,” said Highland High School counselor Joanne Barrick, who led a lively and interactive discussion of the challenges of managing one’s time.
“You have a lot of things vying for your attention all the time,” she told the students. “Time management doesn’t just happen. You weren’t born with it. It’s a skill you have to work on.”
Another nearby workshop was led by substance abuse counselor and inspirational speaker Andrew Jones, who used his training in dance to keep students engaged, even as the lunch break approached.
Jones spoke especially to those students who may experience daily strife at home or are lacking something important in their home life.
“If you do not follow your dream passion, you will repeat the cycle,” he said.
Jones told students they should treat school like a job by going to school every day prepared to work and to excel.
“My oldest brother who is 44 years old, he’s a mid-city Crip. He’s been shot 12 times. My youngest brother, HIV positive.”
He went on to describe a family with a long history of problems. But Jones said he graduated high school with a 3.8 grade point average.
“Listen to me,” he told his young audience. “Your education is your first introduction to the world.”
Paola Vega, 14, an eighth-grader at Richland Junior High School in Shafter, said she participated in a discussion about stereotypes and how everyone should resist being judged and evaluated in such a biased manner.
She said she was enjoying the conference.
Her classmate Giselle Denogean, 13, agreed, calling the conference “a great experience.”
“It opens your mind to more of what’s out there,” she said. “It makes you more aware.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
