Meeting people you never thought you’d meet and experiencing different cultures were highlights of the ten-day Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, DC and New York City, according to Leah Brookes and Rachel Bacon, two of the attendees from Bermuda.The two Warwick Academy students received an invitation from George Mason University to attend one of three conferences held in the US, China and Europe (Vienna, Budapest and Prague) this summer. The invitation, the girls believe, was based on their SAT scores, and came as a pleasant surprise.“I was really shocked but very pleased and excited to have the opportunity of a new experience,” Rachel stated.Leah concurred. “At first I thought it would be a very good opportunity to enhance my leadership skills. I was excited as I thought it would be an overall good experience as well as something good to have on my college application.”Both had heard of the programme from presentations given at school by previous Warwick Academy attendees. “I heard from friends that it was a really good experience,” Leah said. “It was really enjoyable and they learned a lot.”Participation would also earn attendees two university credits on the completion of the conference.Rachel and Leah were thrilled that they had been offered the opportunity to experience the conference themselves and were grateful to their parents who were willing to stump up the fairly hefty sum for them to attend.It was a wise investment, according to Leah’s mum, Karla Brookes, who noted in an e-mail, “It is something other teenagers should be encouraged to find out about as it really expands their horizons and exposes them to career opportunities. Leah was so excited about what she had learned and whom she had met.”One hundred and ninety young people from all over the world were divided into eight groups nominally representing eight of the world’s leading nations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey, China, South Africa, France and India. So not only did the Bermudians learn more about the cultures of the young people in their group, they also had to learn more about and understand the perspective of the country they were representing.For Leah this was South Africa, while Rachel was part of the French delegation. Rachel found it exciting to be put in that group as the French language is of interest to her and she had the chance to study the country itself in greater depth.The days were long, and there was a lot of work preparing for two major simulations: a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on maintaining world order and a Global Summit at the United Nations covering a wide range of issues including peace and security, free trade and debt relief, health, human rights and science and technology. The students had to discuss the issues on a national and then international level.“It was interesting,” Leah observed, “to see kids from different cultures had different perceptions of how countries should be run, what’s right and what’s wrong when making decisions for a country.”That said, Rachel observed, “A lot of people were really respectful of other’s opinions.”In addition to the group work, there were “a lot of really cool speakers”. Lectures and presentations were on such topics as cross-cultural communication and leadership and international trade and economics. There were visits to a number of embassies in Washington, including those of Portugal, Norway and Saudi Arabia.Leah was particularly struck by Dr Gary Weaver’s lecture on cross-cultural communication and stereotyping. “He talked about the dangers of stereotyping and taught us to look at people from different cultures respectfully.”There were also opportunities for personal growth. For Rachel it was getting up to thank Mr Ramu Damodaran who brought greetings from the United Nations and spoke about the Catalyst for Global Change.“It was so intimidating,” Rachel admitted, “standing up in that huge room in front of all those people and being projected on a screen.” But having done it, she now feels more confident about her ability to do it again.Challenging as the tasks were, the conference wasn’t all work. There were opportunities to visit museums in Washington, sites of cultural significance in New York and a Broadway show.Asked what was the most significant thing they learned, Leah observed, “I’m a lot more aware of current global issues. I have a greater respect for people of different cultures.”Rachel expanded on that: “We perceive people from Africa, for example, as really poor, because that’s what we’re shown in the media. But it’s very different when you meet people from those countries, especially from the cities, and hear what they have to say about their own country.”“It was such a good experience,” they both insisted. “It’s worth investigating, pursuing, if you’re invited to attend.”Useful website: http://www.cylc.org/gylc/