Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a multi-day, all-expenses-paid leadership camp organized by Rotary International for high school students and young adults.
At RYLA, participants are split into different “families.” Over the course of the camp, the families participate in numerous bonding, self-growth, and self-reflection activities.
“The purpose of RYLA is to bring students from across Southern Idaho into one space. We try to get students with varying backgrounds…to expose kids to people they haven’t met before and allow them to see people in a different way than they’d seen before; open their eyes to empathy and leadership in different styles,” explained Kealey Alexander, facilitator and assistant camp director for the southern Idaho RYLA camp.
Activities put on at RYLA cannot be shared because organizers “try not to give away too much of the camp to people who haven’t been there before,” but “it all boils down to authenticity and leadership.”
One of the goals of RYLA is to provide participants with opportunities to grow and challenge themselves to do things they didn’t think they could.
“My favorite part was when they inspired us to be something more than we are. The activit[es] they had us do felt like we were in a totally different world and that we could do so much more than what we thought we could,” said Canyon Ridge High School junior Kaija Stevens.
RYLA is not only for high school students. After a year as a camper, participants may be invited to return as junior and senior leaders in future camps.
Alexander expressed, “I think that RYLA has the potential to help a lot of kids. I think it restores my faith in humanity a lot of times, and I want more kids to be able to experience RYLA. That pretty much fuels my desire to keep volunteering my time to put on RYLA.”
Participants thoroughly expressed how RYLA positively impacted them and changed their perspective on themselves and the world.
“We do a ropes course activity one day. There are high elements, and on a different day, we do low ropes course elements that focus more on team building, trust, communication, and putting people in uncomfortable situations to grow, trust other people more, learn things about themselves, and face a little bit of adrenaline,” said Alexander.
Previous camper and leader Amiah Heath shared, “RYLA came to me at a time in my life where I kind of felt like everything was falling apart, and I felt really alone. I signed up for the camp to put on my resume because I’d been involved in leadership all growing up. I fell madly in love with the RYLA spirit and hadn’t felt so at home in a long time. I got to appreciate people and things on such a deep level and spend a week away from home with people I love. I’m so lucky to get to continue to do that every year as a leader and share the love with new campers. I think it’s a really transformative time to learn about yourself and others, and every year I try to carry my RYLA habits into my everyday world.”
“Everyone just becomes family there,” said Kaija, “I try [now] to take people more for who they are than what I think.”
“I’m super outgoing and kind of crazy sometimes, and that hasn’t always made the best impressions, but never once did I cringe at myself because of people’s reactions. Never once did I feel uncomfortable with myself. I was looking at a group of kids who were all completely different, and there was no norm to fit in,” said Ellia Rasmussen, another former RYLA attendee from Weezer, Idaho.
Participants encourage anyone thinking about attending RYLA to apply.
“If you’re interested in leadership, public speaking, and learning more about yourself and other people, it is a great experience. It looks good on your resume. You’d be missing out if you didn’t attend RYLA,” said Alexander.
Kaija commented, “100% go, it will be the best experience of your life.”
“It was amazing, and I felt so uplifted. I still think back to [camp] and think, I’m okay with myself because of that,” shared Ellia.
More information about the camp and application process can be found at https://ryla5400.weebly.com/
