International Youth Week

My goodness how time flies! I was just thinking to myself the other day that I should update my blog and then I realized that I haven't updated in almost two weeks! I can't believe it! I apologize completely for having such big gaps in between posts.
So last week was International Youth Week and I was lucky enough to participate in two events to celebrate the occasion. The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta hosted a speaker presentation and luncheon for representatives of various service organizations. I was a representative of Girl Guides of Canada. The speaker of the event was Dr. Robert Steadward, one of the creators of the Paralympic Games and a very influential man in the international sports world. He spoke about the importance of volunteering, especially when you are a young person. He has met so many people from Princess Diana and Prince Charles to Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. I found his speech very interesting and inspiring. After the speech there was a mingling session where the young people from different organizations could talk about their projects and why they are a volunteer. Then there was a lunch that was a lot of fun, the food was delicious and the conversation was fantastic. It is so special to be a part of the afternoon and I learned a lot about all of the opportunities for volunteering in my city.
The following day I went to City Hall to accept a Youth Excellence Award, again to celebrate International Youth Week. I was very honoured to be nominated and I give my heartfelt thanks to the person who nominated me. I am always very humbled to win an award and I know that by getting out into the community and telling my story I can try to open the minds of others and plant a seed of change.

I thought that after school finished I would have so much time to work on my projects and that time just has not come yet. I know it will though! I will try and be better with my blog posts next week.
Thanks for listening,
Shannon