The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kelcey W. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Tactics - Final Report
Ambassador League was not what I expected it to be. But, then, why am I surprised at this? After all, SSI was way more amazing than I expected, so why should I be surprised that Ambassador League could blow my mind too? This last year has been crazy and I wish I had a snapshot of my inner self at the beginning of last year. I wish I could measure in pictures how I've changed, because the fact is, I know I've changed in the last year, but the changes have been so subtle that sometimes they're hard to see from an everyday perspective. Time blurs memory, but maybe looking back can help me remember.
The beginning of the year found me excited and ready to go. Once I got registration figured out, everything started smoothly. I talked about several different mentors with my family then chose one; I asked her and she agreed. I did my SSI report and checked off a couple of book reports. The next month or two was pretty much like this – smooth sailing, easy going. I brilliantly put off everything that was hard and concentrated (maybe procrastinated) on all of the easy things that could be done from home. Maybe “easy” is not the right word, but they involved the least amount of time and fit into my schedule then.
By Christmas it was still going good, but I was a little behind. I had made a goal to finish three projects every month, but November found me home less than ten days total. I worked on one November report with a dying laptop battery and generator light in the middle of the woods in cabin then tried to catch up in December. I don't think I ever totally caught up, but I was still pretty much finishing three reports every month.
April and May brought trouble. All of my book reports were done and so were my Bible studies; I had one Letter to the Editor left. Everything I needed to do involved going somewhere, meeting someone, and planning things into an already-tight schedule. Getting my driver's license in April helped the situation a little bit, but my parents were still leery of setting me loose in the places I needed to go. My entire family burned itself out on Solo and Ensemble in April, and May was just as scary. I thought at the time that once school stopped and HSMA tour was over I'd have tons of free time. At that point, since I had basically no summer plans, taking May off from Ambassador League seemed like a wise decision. Wrong!
In June I got hired to work about thirty hours a week at a daycare. Suddenly my summer was really really busy. My mom was working too, so somehow I had to fit all of the things I had left around two work schedules and who had the vehicles. I got really discouraged and thought I probably wasn't going to finish. I did what I could, but some things just had to be put into later months. Time stared ticking almost audibly to me. Every night when I was trying to fall asleep I would think of all the things I needed to do for Ambassador League and worry about how much time was left then start to get stressed over it. I had to tell myself there was nothing I could do right then and that I just had to wait, that it would all work itself out. It did, eventually, but not without a lot of hard work.
Somewhere around the last week of June I made a schedule that mapped out exactly what needed to happen in each week if I was going to finish. Some weeks had two reports “due”, but it seem like a plan that would work. Maybe I actually would finish! Reports started getting sent in, points started going ding, ding, ding! and then, all of a sudden, I had five things left. Everything was planned and even the political volunteering, which I had put off until way too late, got done. The end was in sight. I started celebrating right then. It was a great feeling to see the end of the long road within reach.
So now here I am, looking back. I've written a mountain of reports and done things I would never have done if not for this class. Sadly, I still have to take Government in the fall – my mom's not going to really give me any school credit for this – but Ambassador League was still worth all the work. It forced me to grow in ways an ordinary textbook class would not have allowed. It also gave me a good understanding of government above and beyond what we learn at SSI. I got to see more of the inner workings of local government, in addition to the judicial side and the political campaigning side.
Half the reason I finished was because of my mentor. Her name is Beverly Collins and she goes to my church. She's probably not what you'd expect as a mentor, but she really was a great choice for me. She is actually older than my grandmother, but she couldn't be any sweeter than she already is. Though she wasn't entirely sure that she was qualified to do this sort of thing (she was), she was always interested and willing to help or push me in any way that I needed. She remembered me over the year and encouraged me in many ways. She always listened patiently as I talked about what was going on in my life and in Ambassador League and as I explained any struggles. She was such a blessing to me over this last year.
Ambassador League forced me out of my comfort zone in many ways, but one thing that helped me through this was Do Hard Things. This is one reason I think reading Do Hard Things should be required and not just an option! It's one of those books that you keep coming back to over and over and always find it still has some application for whatever hard things you're facing. These hard things change over time – a test, audition judges, sight reading, scary phone calls, marching in a parade – but often the initial fright is really just a cover for the thrill it will be to face those things and succeed.
Ambassador League has made me more confident and more ready to get involved in local processes. I still plan to be involved as much as I can with the Calley campaign (note: now he's running for Lieutenant Governor so I'm not really sure what that means for his senate campaign.) If I have some spare hours I'd love to keep volunteering for organizations like Goodwill and Right to Life. That's something I never would have seen myself doing before this. I've also gotten a lot of writing experience, and Elizabeth has been a great encouragement (you rock!). I think Ambassador League has also pushed me to do everyday things that will be important for the rest of my life. These include but are not limited to following directions to a new destination, doing something without my parents, and taking the initiative to set up important things on my own. My two favorite parts of Ambassador League were marching in the parades and going to the trial. I also enjoyed writing the letters to the editor. My mentor meetings were always fun, too. I also liked working at INCH conference for SSI. OK, so maybe I enjoyed most of the experience! It's been great.
That said, it also has been hard. It took a ton of work, and there were times when it got really overwhelming. Sometimes I almost felt like giving up. However, the joy I felt when I crossed the top and finished was awesome. To know that I could be dedicated to something for an entire year and finish it brought confidence. Ambassador League requires discipline and drive to see it through. The alerts are helpful reminders to work on your reports, and meeting with your mentor (or at least getting ready to) can get you back on track. However, the most important part for me was setting goals and sticking to them. If I wouldn't have pushed myself, it wouldn't have gotten done. This is not a course for wimps! It's a hard and gigantic undertaking.
All in all, Ambassador League was a growing experience that I'm incredibly thankful for. If I had to go back, I still would have chosen to do it. I'm excited to see where what I've learned leads, and though I doubt it's into politics, these things will stay with me into adulthood. Ambassador League challenged me to grow out of my little comfort circle, but in the end, forward motion was the best thing for me.
