Despite this being a short week (only Monday & Tuesday) it has been an eventfull and extremely educational week. The was week was split between finalizing projects from the beginning weeks and starting training and planning for the upcoming Best Buddies Leadership Conference, which will be the main focus of the second half of the summer.

The Best Buddies Leadership Conference is an annual conference that has been held for the last 30 years. At this conference Best Buddies volunteers are given the opportunity to learn about the various ways that they can lead, advocate and bring out social change within their communities. Additionally, they can gain knowledge on how to individually and as a group take action to inspire their communities to take action on their own.

However, this is the first year that my two supervisors are attending the Leadership Conference as Best Buddies employees and therefore, we are all going into it blind. Given that none of us have gone through this process before, it is making the experience a collaborative learning process. We all have different roles and responsibilities for the Leadership Conference that we need to prepare for, which has given me a sense of independence and solidified my position as a contributing member of the Best Buddies Ohio team. Additionally, we are taking the time to step away from our individual roles, and come together and check-in about the questions we have, making sure that we know who to connect with if we need any information or answers. Which has also helped me to feel like a member of the team.

As this short week ended, and there being only one week left until we leave for the Best Buddies Leadership Conference, I’m feeling really excited. All of the trainings, small projects and conference calls are coming full circle and the anticipation of being a part of such a large event is putting into perspective my position as a Summer Fellow.