Participating in ACTIVATE Three Years in a Row

—By Emily Rowell

2009, 2010, 2011 … three years of my life that I was very fortunate to be part of ACTIVATE Youth Leadership Conference. This forum has changed my life. This is NOT an exaggeration. It’s just the truth.

There will be some among you that surely will say, I am sure that some of you will say, that a week-long forum that I’ve attended it three years in a row, cannot change a person’s life. To you I say—you’re sceptical and you have never experienced ACTIVATE. By now, you’ve missed the deadline for registering for the 2011 ACTIVATE Forum, but I encourage you to try again next year, and now I will tell you my story.

2009: I was a girl who felt all alone in the world with my dreams. BAM! Enter ACTIVATE like a knight in shining armour. I attended the forum as a delegate, 5 days later and I would never again be that girl lost in world. I went home with a fervent desire to effect a change in my community. My project activate my community was to be a rugby coach for the eighth graders at my school. In light of the skills I learned at ACTIVATE, I was still able to stay involved in the rugby world, despite being injured and unable to play at provincials for my own rugby team.

Yet ACTIVATE 2009 was not the end of my involvement. I joined Motivate Canada’s Communications team and it has helped me to keep in touch with the wonderful staff at Motivate Canada’s headquarters in Ottawa.

2010: I was delighted to be chosen to be part of the team of volunteers to organize the ACTIVATE 2010 Leadership Forum. I learned a lot during the months of work: I called strangers all across the country and I searched all delegates on Facebook (not easy for me I swear), there was lots of work to do but our team worked well together and the results were great. To see all of your hard work realized is truly unforgettable. For me, the joy of the ACTIVATE Forum 2010 was the best gift after all the months of hard work. I always stay in touch with my other ACTIVATORS and enlarge my network of friends. Now I have a person with whom I could stay in touch with each province and territory, that’s a success!

ACTIVATE 2010—still, I wanted to return. Fortunately MC decided to create a new position: chief of the volunteer team. The needed someone who had experience with the forum and could help ACTIVATE again and give expertise to new volunteers.

2011: You may be asking yourselves is this girl ever tired of ACTIVATE? No, I’m not, and I’m not finished yet. This year I am one of two leaders of the volunteer team. We are currently organizing the forum at the same time. We send emails, we support each other and we are working hard to create a great experience for 2011 delegates. If you’re one of those delegates and you’re reading this, I congratulate you and I really look forward to meeting you in May. If you are not a delegate, I ask this question: do you want to change the world or do you expect that someone does it for you? Even if you are not a delegate in 2011 myself and other volunteers are delighted to hear from you. You can reach us at activatevolunteers@gmail.com and you can follow our blog for encouragement http://activatevolunteers.blogspot.com/weeklies. Go ahead! Woohoo!