Above the Influence held its annual leadership conference Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the Youth For Christ Facility in Alma.

Ithaca, Ashley, Alma, Fulton, and St. Louis schools all had members attend for the conference. There were two guest speakers, Alton Voss and John Glenn, and leadership/ team building activities. Senior Leah Chvojka had a great time at the conference, “I thought the leadership experience was great. The speakers that were brought in, were amazing and motivating. They made me realize asking for help is okay. We learned about our core values and had to make tough decisions to figure out our top three core values when we started with 40 choices.” 

Alton Voss is a recovering addict and shared his story with high school students. He went through many challenges in high school and college with addiction. He was a top-ranked player in football and had a bright future in professional football, but it was thrown away due to his addictions. His speech was very moving and was a great example for our students on what addiction can cause.  The role of students who are part of this organization is to encourage their classmates and not succumb to peer pressure. Therefore, this talk was very helpful.

The other speaker, John Glenn, spoke about mentorship and how important it is to have someone guide you to achieve your dreams. He said that you need a mentor who doesn’t see you for who you are now, but instead, your potential. He then led an activity where each student received 40 cards with core values on them such as: confidence, love, faith, wealth, love, etc. They were then instructed to narrow them down to 12 that they valued. They then had to pick six, then three. The students definitely struggled with having to choose between their values, and it was a really impactful self-reflecting lesson. He instructed the students to keep these values in mind as they move through life and to use them when trying to navigate their futures. Afterward, he spotlighted some students and asked them about what their dreams were. He gave advice to them about how to go about achieving them. 

Overall, it was a very impactful and encouraging day for Above the Influence members.