A couple weekends ago, I went to my conference for FCCLA (Family Community Career Leaders of America) and got to talk about the talks i have given recently and the things that i have been doing to help raise awareness of mental illness. I've been busy making up school work from the days that I missed, that i haven't had the chance to write about it yet.
The convention was AMAZING!!! It was a group of about 20 people and we had 3 amazing teachers who are the leaders of the group go. We left on a sunday and headed to downtown Indianapolis where we would be staying until tuesday. We arrived around 4:30 and checked in and unpacked our things. Some people presented that night and some people were presenting Monday morning. My presentation wasn't until Monday morning, so I just went and supported the people going that night. FCCLA also had an opening ceremony for the convention, in which people held banners for their school and got to meet the FCCLA state officers. Not much really happened that day, and we went to bed after the ceremony at around 12 and got some rest for the really busy day ahead.
Monday morning I woke up at 7 and had to go to an orientation for my event at 8:30. At the orientation, they basically explained the things we needed for our presentation and told us the times that we present. I presented 3rd at 9:50. Going into the presentation, I was SOOOO nervous. I was thinking to myself that I couldn't do it and that maybe I should just skip it. I was shaking so bad, but just as i told myself all these things, the judges called my name and it was time for me to present. I opened up with my original song "Hold On" and basically talked about the places I have talked at and the influences it has had on me and other people. It lasted about 10 minutes and by the end of the presentation, I felt really good about it what I have done over the last couple of months and felt pretty confident. After the presentation, I got to attend a really cool meeting about Family Consumer Science Education programs at colleges that my teachers took me to, knowing that I was interested in pursuing that as a career. It was really interesting and I met some teachers that are teaching the courses at colleges like Purdue and Ball State. I received a lot of information on it. Right after that, all the kids that came attended the FCCLA at the table meeting and got to introduce and talk to other people in FCCLA and actually talk to some of the state officers. Then, we all ended up going swimming as a group and talked for like 2 hours. It was really fun to talk to everyone and get the chance to rest and hang out. Later that night after we ate an afternoon dinner, we had another orientation we had to attend. It lasted almost 3 hours and was really long but there were some really inspiring people that talked and I will always remember the stories that were told and the advice given. FCCLA set up a dance 8 that night and we went there ready to get the party on (: Everyone, even all the teachers, danced to the extreme and it was an extremely fun party. We didn't know anyone there so everyone felt free to just dance like nobodies business. There was a dance circle, some dares that our group made up to see how many people we could talk to in five minutes, and more. After the dance, everyone was still really hyped from the party that we all went to one hotel room (no teachers, i think they were exhausted haha) and we played a fun game of never have I ever. Many interesting things were told and we got to know more about each other. We stayed in that room till around 1a.m and then me and my roommates went back to our room. We were leaving the next day and we had to organize our things so that we could pack in the morning. We went to bed at around 2, so it was a long, but fun day Monday.
Tuesday, we all got up and packed our things because we were leaving at around 1 that afternoon. After packing our things, we went to the awards ceremony where we got to see the places we got in the conference. It was very nerve-racking. In my event, I ended up getting a bronze and the rest of our team did very well also. Some people even qualified for nationals in the summer in Washington D.C. So overall, our group did very well and I'm so proud of everyone and their accomplishments. The awards ceremony lasted a long time and after we all got our things and boarded our bus for the way home, only to stop at Wich Wich because everyone was starving haha.
The FCCLA conference was amazing and soo fun. I got to meet some new really cool people and also get to know more about my peers in the group. The teachers were all so cool and I'm so grateful to them that they took out 3 days out of their schedule to come to a conference with a bunch of high schoolers. They are the best and are honestly like friends to all of us. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world, as it opened my eyes to all the amazing things people do around the community, it made me grow and expand my thoughts on upcoming things I want to do about mental illness, and lastly, it made me become more confident that I can do what I put my mind to. I will never forget this amazing experience and i hope for many more opportunities to come!
"You're so oblivious, to words I've never said,
Isn't it obvious, that we could always get
To a place where we would make mistakes,
All you've seen is beauty, well,
This is the ugly, this is the ugly truth."
"Ugly Truth" by Lauren Aquilina
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