Earlier this summer I had the privilege of attending the annual Global Young Leaders Conference in both Washington, DC and New York City. I was fortunate enough to receive my nomination through my Chemistry teacher at Saltus Grammar School and was delighted to be able to accept the offer.

Although I had the option of travelling to China, I ultimately chose the conference in the US as I was much more interested in the political aspects of the programme than the cultural aspects. In retrospect, however, I think that no matter where I went I would have had a good time. After much packing, planning and preparing, July 11th soon rolled around and the day of the conference was upon me. It was overwhelming at first, being in a room with 299 other teens from all over the world, but at the end of the two weeks of the conference, I could safely say that I had met nearly every single student who attended.

One of the main focuses of the conference was guest speakers; we had talks with members of Deutsche Bank, the World Bank and even the United Nations. They not only focused on what they did in their positions within their respective organisations but also what they did to help our global community, how they got there and the leadership techniques they had learned in their own lives and experiences. We would later consolidate what we had learned from them in our Leadership Group Meetings. The LGMs were not only our class groupings but our debate groups, our friends and our GYLC family.

Some of the more interesting topics we looked at and debated included a (hypothetical) disagreement between Airbus and Boeing, the division of Cyprus, world hunger and genetically modified organisms and various other issues.

Throughout the conference, heavy emphasis was placed on maintaining and strengthening our global and topical knowledge, and I know that since I participated, I've been able to consider myself an overall more worldly person.

The conference wasn't all work though; we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves, from social nights, to museum visits, to shopping trips and to exploring Chinatown, Times Square and the National Mall.

The highlight of these events was, by far and away, our final summit in the UN General Assembly. Whereas the guided tours for most visitors only take you to the back of the auditorium, we got to sit in the same seats as some of the world's greatest presidents, monarchs and prime ministers.

I know that the leadership and teamwork techniques I learned during my time at GYLC will benefit all parts of my life and the memories from my trip to New York and Washington, DC will stay with me for a lifetime. The friends I made are some of the best I've ever had; I will cherish those two weeks for the rest of my life. If anyone else has the opportunity to attend this event, I cannot recommend it highly enough; you will not regret it.