I am a co-captain of this year's Diocesan Youth Board.

At the beginning of this past summer, I attended the Christian Leadership Institute in preparation for being on Youth Board. I was quite excited, and couldn't wait to start up the year full of fun events including Witness the Spirit, Da Bounce and, especially, Convention.

CLI was a weeklong retreat that provided me the opportunity to learn skills to help me grow in my faith, create a solid foundation of Christian friendship, and strengthen my leadership. The expectations I held for this retreat were well beyond reached. That particular week was one that brought me closer to God through meeting many teenagers my age who held the same beliefs as me. The retreat was long enough that I was able to create lasting friendships with my peers.

What was really nice about CLI is that all the teenagers were welcoming. There weren't any cliques or groups. Drama and every day high school issues weren't an occurrence at CLI.

Each new day provided fun-filled different activities. One specific skill I learned at CLI was to take the time to listen to others before speaking. I couldn't have thought of a better way to start off my upcoming year with Youth Board.

When our monthly meetings started in September, I began with a foundation of friendship with the peers on Youth Board. It was refreshing to be around people that understood what I believe in. Together we have worked to offer ideas and thoughts to enrich the faith life of the youth of our diocese. I look forward to finishing off the year with my friends on Youth Board, and together with them, I hope to provide fresh ideas and a solid foundation for next year's Youth Board.