Angelina, Alberta, and Jace all took a red eye flight overnight to Washington, D.C., from Seattle. They arrived completely exhausted and jet lagged, but took an Uber as planned to breakfast and then on to the Spy Museum. However, it was pouring down rain! In fact, Jace said they were told tonight that it is a record amount of rainfall. Poor kids! Jace said that at one point part of the scavenger hunt from the Spy Museum took them outside and they came back soaked! They were at least able to check in early to the dorms and get some time to rest and settle in. Jace helped set some things up and seemed to find another kid that checked in early to hang out with. I was surprised to learn that there were only 26 kids on this program! And I know several of my students that were waitlisted and didn't get in. What that tells me is that being chosen for this is an extremely special thing and that many won't get this opportunity. It is run by Plan International, and funded by a $35,000 grant for project, food, and housing. Angelina and Alberta were given full scholarships to cover the $400 participation fee, and Amber was given $100 to blog about her experience. These are opportunities that not many get--and the fact that three of my students and my son Jace were chosen says a lot about those young people. I knew they were absolutely exhausted, but I asked each of them to tell me something about today to share, so here is what they gave me:

Amber: I learned that the basilica is the largest church in the US and that Plan International has a female CEO.  (Amber is in charge of the blog tomorrow, so she just had a few things to add today.)

Jace: I learned that Plan International is stationed in over 75 countries and that the amount of rain we had today is a record.  They even gave us ponchos.  I couldn't believe how soaking wet I got when part of the Spy Museum scavenger hunt took us outside and it started pouring rain!  The activities tonight were really fun and they put us in family groups.  There is a girl in my family group that also wants to study marine science.  They closed the gym for some reason, so a guy offered to run a boot camp in the morning and lots of kids signed up to go if it doesn't rain.

Angelina: I was frustrated with the weather--one minute it would be pouring rain, and the next it was sunny, but the whole time it was extremely humid. And the air was thick!! But one thing that made me happy was getting to explore this old staircase, it had statues on a few floors, but eventually led to nothing. But it was also kind of creepy because the floorboards creaked every time we moved. I was also disappointed in their food, as I was expecting something great, but some of it was similar to school food. In one of the workshops, I learned that I am a technical leader, and I like to focus on facts and evidence, and that I need to work on being more assertive.

Alberta: Today was a very weird but amazing day. Its amazing how I was somewhat able to last the entire day without any bit of sleep. The weather in DC is terrible since its super humid yet rains buckets. Plus, outside is humid to the point you can barely breathe, while inside of the University is colder than the Atlantic Ocean. I really liked meeting new people though, especially since everyone has different and new perspectives to share from different parts of the country. The way they set up roommates was at random, meaning we get to share a room with someone we've never met before. We did an exercise where we basically evaluated ourselves as a leader/someone who works with others. It was quite interesting since everyone was able to see their flaws as individuals and admit to them, which makes them strong enough to become leaders and help others.

These four young people applied for this program, got accepted, and fundraised the money to pay their registration and airfare.  They will take turns updating the blog and sharing photos for the site; especially for those of you that financially supported their desire to attend.  Thank you for that!  They will be staying at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and participating in a packed agenda that will challenge them daily.  They will no doubt learn a lot, make a ton of new friends, and ultimately change their global perspective.  I am so excited for them!