Last night was the graduation of Leadership Price William, Class of 2013. As I watched 39 people make the transition from student to alumni, a whirlwind of thoughts traveled through my mind.
One day a month for nine months, each student is immersed in some facet of life in Prince William County. We spend each day with other leaders in different aspects of our community. If I had to describe my favorite program, I couldn’t, because I loved them all.
Every session involves interactive, hands on experience in addition to motivational speakers and travel around the county. We visited historic sites, participated in team building exercises and engaged in activities designed to teach us about planning and economic development, human services, environment, recreation, history and much more.
A course that opens and closes with mandatory retreats doesn’t just teach you the nuts and bolts about various fields of interest. It teaches you the importance of team building and how to identify your own personal strengths and weaknesses. We learned teamwork as a vehicle to make each other shine.
As I watched the Lean, Mean Class of 2013 accept their certificates last night, I was aware that many of these new graduates were already leaders in their field. I wondered if any of them (as I had) wondered if they had made a good choice when they enrolled in LPW. It’s not cheap, although compared to many other Leadership courses; it is certainly less expensive than many. I had already been involved in my community for six years, so I wondered if LPW was actually going to be worth the investment. I remember fretting over the cost of tuition, wrestling thoughts about committing funds to a course when my only job is a volunteer.
Friendships and loyalties are formed that will last forever. There is an unspoken bond among the alumni that says, “I have your back.” If you need help, someone who CAN help will do so. If you need advice, there is an expert in nearly every field to counsel you. If you have a dream, someone who has gone through this course in the last six years is going to do everything he/she can to assist you. It is absolutely the best investment I’ve ever made.
We graduates of Leadership Prince William are out here in the community. We are dedicated to making life better for everyone in our community. We know that personal success is good, but it is not the most important goal in life. The most important goal is to use your talent toward the good of all.
Thank you to everyone who works to make this possible. Our debt is immense to former LPW Executive Director, Kathy Ellington. To the new E.D., Kathy Bentz, Class of 2010: We wish you all the success of your predecessor and we’ve “got your back.”
