The Knoxville Rotary Club got to hear from local students about their experience with the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

RYLA events are organized by local rotary clubs and give students the opportunity to attend a leadership camp. These students were nominated by the Knoxville Rotary Club to attend the RYLA event at the campus of Grinnell College. At the camp they learn leadership skills, life skills, creating friendships, and they hear from a variety of speakers. The Knoxville students who were selected to participate were Morgan Pitt, Aubri Murphy, Ian Newendorp, Ana Rowen, and Jimmy McCormick. Janie Maasdam went last year and was selected as a team leader for this year’s camp and says it was a very intense interview and selection process to be a team leader, and she was excited to be selected for the opportunity.

“It’s really reassuring in my leadership. I went into it with a lot of imposter syndrome thinking all of these kids are so accomplished and I’m just a girl from Knoxville, but it really meant a lot when I was selected. They screen recorded and facetimed us and showed us the night before the conference our reaction to getting put on the team and it was just pure joy on my face.”

The students also shared about their experience at the evening Rotary meeting on Wednesday night held at KNIA/KRLS.