Senior Jenna Heslop had the unique opportunity to be the first Alliance Aviator to attend the HOBY World Leadership Congress this past summer. Read about her experience below.
Over the summer, I attended the Hugh O'Brian World Leadership Congress (HOBY WLC), held at Loyola University in Chicago. After I was nominated to attend the 2023 Ohio North regional seminar, I realized attending HOBY WLC was an offer that I couldn't pass up. With the help of many generous donations, I am so proud to be the first to represent Alliance High School at the international conference. There were delegates from 12 countries and ambassadors from 49 states all coming together with the same motivation to be leaders of the world.
Attending WLC was truly life-changing, but what was even more impactful were the people I met. In one short week, those people became family. I felt more seen and understood than ever before. During the week, we split into “community spaces,” which are groups based on the characteristics of an individual. I opted to identify myself with the religious community group for those meetings. Being in that space, I learned that even when I am surrounded with people from all different walks of life, we can come together and have meaningful conversations about something we all feel deeply about.
One of the events included guest speaker, Ethan Zohn, who was the men's goalkeeper for the Zimbabwe National Soccer Team and winner of the reality TV series Survivor. In 2009, he was diagnosed with cancer. He spoke about his journey battling cancer and living every day knowing that it could be his last.
Something he said that has stuck with me is “We all die, but we have to live until we die.”
We all need to “embrace the suck” and put any hesitations aside because, at the end of the day, the experience of failure teaches us more than the outcome of trying.
While at the Congress, I met a friend who told me, “My goal is to die knowing I lived a happy life.” At the end of the day, all that matters is knowing you surround yourself with people that love and support you, hold you when you're hurt, lift you higher, and push you to do the same.
All you can do is appreciate the little things and go to bed with a smile on your face. I never want to forget how I felt walking back to the dorms after we were dismissed for the day to finish off the night with a smaller group of ambassadors.
The final night, we answered the question, “What does HOBY mean to you?” To me, HOBY means giving my full self and still receiving an outpour of love, compassion, and support for all I am and all that I can be. Who you are is how you lead, and those are values that you should always hold true to. During one of the workshops, an ambassador said, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” In a world where it is easiest to step on others to get to the top, we need to remember to help others up as well.
I am forever grateful to be an alum of the 2024 HOBY WLC.