Twelve orphans were given the tools to emerge as leaders on a trip to UF.
For the first time in eight years, the UF Young Leaders Conference awarded scholarships to less fortunate high school students who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to attend college.
From Friday to Sunday, 12 Miami-Dade County high school students joined the group of 184 attendees and engaged in leadership workshops.
Julia DiCesare, director of external communications, said the program’s executive board noticed the less fortunate attendees in the past actually benefitted the most.
“Those students just stood out a lot, so we wanted to give the opportunity for kids who couldn’t financially afford to come to Young Leaders Conference to be able to come,” the 21-year-old UF marketing and psychology senior said.
Before the executive board was able to reach out to high school counselors, DiCesare said she received a call from a woman running Miami-Dade’s foster homes who asked to send students to the conference.
It costs $240 for one student to attend YLC. DiCesare said the board created 16 scholarships — 12 for students to attend the conference and four for future college funds — that were awarded at the closing ceremony. The money was raised through donations by both local and hometown businesses and their families.
Timmus Drayton, one of the scholarship recipients from Homestead High School, said his favorite part was having time to reflect and talk during the workshops.
“They taught you their personalities, their characteristics, and they just taught you how they feel about certain things,” the 16-year-old said. “It was a really enjoyable process.”
YLC welcomes students from different backgrounds, schools and upbringings to give them a chance to determine what kind of leader they want to be, said Austin Sutherland, the program’s executive director.
“We impress upon them all the stuff we have gone through, and hopefully in turn they can take what they learn at YLC and bring it back to their communities,” the 21-year-old finance senior said.
To students like Drayton, YLC was not just a conference.
“I come from a school that’s really not good,” he said. “People really don’t care, and (YLC) showed me that people can care, and there are good things in life.”
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 1/28/2015 under the headline “UF group awards scholarships to Fla. high schoolers"]
