The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kelcey W. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Tactics - Promote SSI
I chose to promote SSI as the CHESS open house, an annual event through my local homeschool group. The open house was held on June 8th. Earlier in the spring I had contacted SSI to see if they wanted a booth there and then contacted Mrs. Amy Doerr about availability. I secured a booth and made arrangements to borrow SSI's display materials for the evening.
Once I arrived at South Church, I got the booth set up (with the aid of Mr. Visscher) and briefly skimmed the other booths while I waited for the open house to start. I chose to promote SSI here because, being a member of CHESS for roughly nine years, I felt like this would be comfortable territory to do something new. The promoting came naturally to me, actually, and this surprised me a lot. I talked with many people about SSI and handed out some materials to several who were considering it. I explained the concept of SSI to some who had never heard of SSI before. After I asked if they had teenagers, many moms laughed nervously and said they'd keep SSI in mind for when their second graders got there. Then they walked away. I was not offended, however, because they looking a little overwhelmed just considering all the opportunities CHESS offers.
During my time promoting SSI, I discovered something about myself that I think I had forgotten: I am a people person. I love to talk to people, and usually I do not have trouble talking to people I've never met before. When I can find something we have in common to talk about, it thrills me. When I got to share about what SSI has meant to me and how cool the experience is, I found myself getting encouraged. Everyone I talked to seemed really receptive to the concept of SSI, and one or two moms remarked that they wished something similar to the program had been available to them when they were in high school.
Also significant in this process was the way I had to go about it. My parents kindly refused to help me at all in this project, and that turned out to be a good thing. I was able to do this project entirely on my own – even down to the driving there and back in the rain and a traffic jam. For a girl who's just warming up to the idea of her license, this was a really good experience for me! I now have the confidence to remember this adventure and the fact that I did it all on my own. Next time I need to conquer something (like the next mission) it will be good to remember that doing things on your own is really rewarding – it helps you learn lessons that you would never learn otherwise, and it helps you gain confidence.
Overall, this experience helped me branch out of my comfort zone. The main point, of course, was to spread the word about SSI, and I think having a familiar face do some convincing definitely helps. Whether I convinced any of my friends that SSI is something they should try and will enjoy, I'm not sure. I hope so. Who knows? Maybe if they don't come this summer, they'll be able to make it next year.
My experience promoting SSI was great. I got to talk about one of the best things I've done in my teen years to people I know and people I know now. I got to spread the word about something I believe in; I also discovered something about myself (I love talking to other people) and I have strong feeling that this knowledge will help me make some choices about college. At first, I wasn't so sure this mission was ever going to be possible, but I am so glad I tried, because I had fun, and I totally surprised myself.
