Trip to DC? For Free? Count me in.

Enough said, my bags are packed!

W​hen I was growing up, I would commonly receive these invitations to go across the US for the young leaders camp or maybe some specialized science or math camp since I did well in school.

T​he problem was that these camps always cost thousands of dollars to attend and were by no means worth that much money.

Especially at such a young age, networking is not a thing that early on. So after a while, my parents and I would see these letters and not even consider them because we knew they would cost too much.

T​hat is until I switched schools after my sophomore year of high school.

Going into a brand new school blind was an exciting time as I had only known the new school through sports competitions and a single friend who attended there.

Still, the school’s potential to offer me better opportunities was significant enough to initiate a transfer.

S​ure enough, the potential paid off when I was approached by the school’s administration towards the end of my first semester. They informed me that I was nominated to apply for this “Youth Leadership Trip to DC!”

O​kay…

O​f course, I was polite, but honestly, I wanted to cut to the chase and let them know that I wasn’t interested in paying thousands of dollars for a trip to DC.

It wasn’t even on my bucket list to travel to.

But, after a little more information was given, I thought it sounded super cool, and I was honored to be nominated because there is only one nominee out of the entire school.

I​t got even better when I heard, “All expenses paid.”

W​HAT?!?!?!

Y​ou mean they were going to sponsor my entire trip to DC? Plane tickets? Food? Luggage? Rooms?

Y​es, everything.

A​ll I needed to do was pass the interview and get accepted to represent my local EMC (Electric Membership Corporation) out of the other nominees from other schools in the area. No biggy. I had done plenty before through Boy Scouts and other small jobs.

But guess what?

T​hey aren’t doing interviews because of Covid.

Even better.

All I needed to do was fill out an application, get references, and write a 2-page biographical sketch. Tall list, in my opinion, but it’s a free week-long trip, so it’s a small price to pay.

T​ype, type, type

C​lick, Click, Click

B​oom, application submitted.

N​ow we wait.

T​his was the most dreadful part of it all because I had heard of other nominees who had applied, and I felt my chances dwindling as time went on.

Of course, the chances didn’t go down, but I grew ever more impatient.

Eventually, I​ almost forgot about the whole ordeal. It had been months since I heard anything.

T​hat was until this one day.

T​his particular day, I was job shadowing at a peanut plant (food science and whatnot). I received an email from the company sponsoring the trip.

M​ind you, we are not supposed to have our phones out, but it was break time, and when I saw it, I practically jumped out of my seat. I had to quickly explain what was happening to the man I was shadowing.

S​miles flew across the room as the news spread to these people who barely even knew me.

I was going on a free trip to DC!

S​hortly after, I received a phone call from one of the company’s employees congratulating me, which really topped off the day for me.

T​he news reached my administrators at school, who all congratulated me. It was euphoric. I informed the people that wrote recommendations for me, and they were just as happy.

Everyone, everywhere, all happy and all so pleasant and excited for me.

T​he feeling was like nothing else.

I​ am going to DC.

I​ will write an overview of the actual trip and then more specified articles going more in-depth into each part of the trip.

If you are interested in what an intense week in DC looks likes, consider signing up to become a member so you can read all of those stories! A portion of the fund will benefit me, and I would greatly appreciate it!