For the second year running,loveLife Gneration has flown over to Atlanta and taken part in Usher’s New Look Foundation’s Youth conference.
This is what Rachel had to say:
Taking part in Usher’s New Look Foundation is such a privilege as it trains young leaders to grow and inspire to be what they dream to be, it also gives us as youths the opportunity to come together and make a difference, not only in ourselves but in everyone else around us. Being a part of Usher’s New Look Foundation, World Leadership Conference has really opened my eyes to the opportunities around me and how easily they can be accessed if I reached out for them. Throughout the conference I gained a variety of inspiration from the many speakers and workshops. Being at this conference has taught me that change starts from within and then is spread out into the community, country, internationally and nationally. My goal in life is to open a children home for children with or without disability and to start a charity for less fortunate children living locally and hopefully spread out internationally then nationally. Taking part in WLC allowed me to think of the big picture and how it can really make a difference in someone’s life. Shadowing a worker in Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital showed me how lives can be changes and even saved with the simplest of things. Visiting the hospital has pushed me closer to pursuing my dreams of helping children in need. Not only has New Look given me more confidence to achieve the best I can and to pursue my dreams but I’ve made unforgettable memories and friends that will never be forgotten.
Rachel Boateng
LDN TO ATL: Our Experience
Going to Atlanta was an experience that I was willing to enjoy, unaware of what to expect. The week we were due to leave for Atlanta was very hectic as we had to get our Esta Visa sorted, make sure we rehearsed our spoof ,get our suitcase ready and revise for the science exam on the day we were to leave, but it still did not hit me that we were going to Atlanta. On Friday 15th June, I got to school early to do some last minute revision, sat the exam at 8.45am and finished the 2 papers by 9:20am. As soon as we finished the exam paper the journey began.
We left school, got changed in 10minutes and headed to the airport. The journey to the airport was exciting yet worrying because we didn’t know what to expect, so we tried preparing ourselves to overcome anything that we wouldn’t normally have. The plane journey was 9hours and 25minutes, after 2hours all of us started to become very agitated and began walking up and down the plane every 30minutes. We eventually made friends with the air hostess’ and made conversation for about 1hour. We started to get bored and tired but to our advantage we had are own individual television at the back of each seat with a variety or music, movies, radios and televisions shows that we settled down to and watched. For the remainder of the flight we just made conversation with each other until the pilot said “We will be arriving shortly in Atlanta”, which brought out the excitement that we had finally arrived in America. Our first ever trip to America was going to be one that we all were going to remember.
When we were got off the plane, our mouths dropped to how beautiful Atlanta was … from the airport anyway. We went through immigration, got our bags and headed to the exit where a man was waiting to take us to Woodruff Residential Center. As soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned airport we were greeted by heat, it was so hot and humid. We gazed out the car windows with such excitement even though we were a bit jetlagged. We took pictures of things we would necessarily find in London, to keep as first time memories.
When we arrived at the woodruff centre, it looked as if no one was around, but we were filled with so much excitement to have noticed. A young man opened the door and welcomed us. His name was James Harris but his code name was Dewey Da Don, so we called him Dewey. He showed us our rooms were we left our bags, freshened up then went back to the lounge. We asked where the other international (Hong Kong and South Africa) youths were because we knew that the local youths were due to arrive from Monday going and we were told they went to the President’s Circle Reception, which we would have attended if we arrived earlier. But we were fine with that because everyone was bubbling with joy and were just so excited to be there that we wanted to go out and explore Atlanta. Dewey kindly took charge and took us the park near the residential. It was so beautiful we saw fireflies which were amazing for us as we don’t have fireflies in London. We saw HUGE trees, a lake and a waterfall.
Once it went pitch black we walked back to the residential center and Dewey ordered pizza for us. The pizza was so nice but it was really thick so I only had 1 slice. After eating we relaxed in front of the TV and waited for the other internationals to return. After about 30minutes they came back and the first thing I heard when they walked through the door was “HELLO LONDON!!!!” and it was from Robin Gittens, Director of All Things Awesome. We introduced ourselves to everyone and began to build a relationship with every single one of them. The first night in Atlanta was amazing and we had already made strong friends. That night was hard for us to sleep because of the time difference. I only slept for 4 hours and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I just stayed awake until 6 and prepared myself to meet the host families.
Conference Day 1: Monday 18th June 2012
That morning we left from the host family’s home and headed over to the Chik-Fil-A headquarters. Chik-Fil-A is a private American fast food restaurant which has been around since 1946. It was founded by Truett Cathy and his brother Ben Cathy.
Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill in which he later renamed the Dwarf House in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946 and developed the pressure-cooked chicken breast sandwich there. At the original Chick-Fil-A Dwarf Grill, in addition to the full-size entrances, there is also an extra small-sized front door. The original Dwarf House in Hapeville, Georgia is open 24 hours a day, six days a week, except on Sundays (when it closes at 4 a.m. on Sunday mornings and reopens at 6 a.m. on Monday mornings). It has a larger dine-in menu than the other Dwarf House locations as well as an animated seven dwarf’s display in the back of the restaurant.
Conference Day 2: Tuesday 19th June 2012
The weather was amazingly hot, unlike London. We woke up that morning to find out that some New Look youths from Detroit had arrived. We (Internationals) introduced ourselves to them and started to get to know each one another.
We had a 2 hour session on Passion & Purpose that the MITS (Moguls In Training) set up. There topic reflected on Youth against Stereotypes.
At 8 we all went over to the student lounge that had many
After spending an hour in the student lounge we returned back to campus and relaxed in the front lounge where everyone wanted to hear the differences between London and their country. It was a good way to interact with other youths as we go to know what they thought about our “accent” and background and how we related to them.
