Leadership Conference, Sandy Latour

 Wednesday October 2nd, 2013

       I am currently outside the train station of Charny waiting for the train going to Gaspesie to arrive. Six students from St-Pats and I are forming a circle and we are talking about our expectations and wishes for the conference. I am really eager. I half-listen to the others talking while I am caught up in my eagerness. Will it be as hot as this over there? Will they give us a mattress to sleep on or will we sleep on the ground? The view will be amazing on our hike! Will the other students be sociable? All these questions ran through my mind as I nodded in agreement to what Eloise said. 

     It's the first time that Kim and Eloise take the train, so they are excited about that. It is my second experience, but I am still stressed out as the train starts moving that our wagon will detach itself from the rest of the train or that we will crash into a city or fly off a bridge. I have seen too much movies and have heard too many stories. I am sitting next to Kim on the right-side of the alley, where the seats are two by two. On the left-side of the alley, the rows are one by one. Eloise is sitting behind us with a very shy guy from Mclane Memorial, also going to the conference. Secondary five girls have come all the way from Gaspesie just to take the train back with us and make our trip more entertaining. They are giving us thread in order to make bravelets. They say it is some sort of tradition where they live to bring back bracelets from the places they have visited. They told us to make two bracelets each: one for ourselves, one for any student in the leadership who doesn't have a bracelet yet. The two girls also gave us rocks for us to write an encouraging word on.  I wrote determination on mine, since I need to finish the projects I start and stay motivated. 

      It is now quite late; close to 11:45. Sarah, a St-Pat student from secondary five, brought her guitar. She is playing and singing "The Scientists", by Cold Play. The girls in front of us, a teacher, a couple of other students who gathered around, Kim, Elo and I are signing to the rythm. It is quiet relaxing; all the stress from school and other stuff i can let go of. Tomorrow will be a good day. 

Thursday October 3rd, 2013

       This morning I was woken up at 5:20 in the morning since we were getting out of the train with our baggages to go in the school bus I am in now. A two hour drive to get to our final destination: cime adventures, our campsite. Someone took my sleeping bag -which was seperate from my baggage- or it got lost: we can not seem to find it! I hope we will, it is kind of important since we are sleeping outside tonight! I did not sleep very well last night, maybe because i was too excited or the fact that i had to sleep in sitting position. I'm happy we get to have a school bus for the two hour drive, i will get to sleep a little more actually laying down. 

      We have arrived, finally! Luckily, Ms. Klancar found my sleeping bag, someone had taken it thinking that it was theirs! There is Ms. Klancar, Ms. Shay, Mr. Poirier, and about fifteen students from St-Pats. There is so much people who have come from all over Quebec it is amazing! We must be, if not more, 400 teenagers. All of the students and teachers and volunteers are gathered in this big cafeteria that looks like a chalet, waiting for breakfast to be served. I am so hungry, it has been a long journey. When breakfast is finally served, everybody rushes to the kitchen counter to form a massive line of people. There is no point in waiting in line. Instead, we wait about half and hour for the line to be small enough to be worth it. This breakfast will surely be delicious.

      Kim, Elo and I just came back from hiking! We could see from the top of the moutain seigneuries defined by their different shades of green. The contrast between the greens and the blue of the river was simply breath-taking. On our hike we made great friends from Queen Elizabeth School in Sept-Ile: Philippe, Nicolas, Alex and Mario. This experience was totally worth the leg aches.

      The following experience, too, was quite something! I had to sleep outside, under an impermeable web in case of rain but nothing to protect me from the cold except a small fire. The students were divided equally in "nests" which were small rectagular deforested areas connected to a road which led to other similar nests. You had no choice but to meet new people since you did not necessarily sleep with people from your school. I was lucky to be in the same nest as Kim- Nest 6- while Elo was in an other nest further up the road from ours-Nest 13-. I slept beside a guy from Quebec High School. His name was Phil and he was just awesome! Kim and I talked with him until our eyes were closing by themselves. Today met, even surpassed, my expectations.

Friday October 4th, 2013

      I am now in the train heading back home. I missed out of batteries this morning. I did not think i would use my ipod so much so i did not bring my charger. The theme of the whole conference was "unplugged", meaning unplugged from technology. So it was not the first thing i thought about bringing. There is this nice guy, JF, who was kind enough to lend his to me. Kim and I -Elo wanted to sleep so she took a seat alone- were in the VIP section since there was no more place on the wagons where the rest of the students are. Kim is in the two seats in front of me, and on the other side of the alley is JF - parrallel to Kim- and Jordan -parrallel to me-. All three seem to be sleeping, atleast they are trying too. It is understandable since it is 1:16 in the morning.

      This is a short summary of what I did today. I woke up, had breakfast and then left off for the activity i had chosen with Elo: zoomba! We had a blast! Laughing at how bad I was was the best part of it. After that, the boys and girls were seperated. An Ameriandian women came to speak to us about loving each other and appreciating what we have. She also told us about her culture and spirituality. In the end, we invented a song to the beat of a drum which every single one of us had the chance to try. This song we later presented to the boys, and the boys presented to us what they had prepared: beatboxing. I also showed my dancing skills when the zoomba group was called up to perform the moves we had learned!

      I will always remember the fun I had during this conference and the friends I made. It was most definitely one of the most outstanding two days of my life!