Teen Questions & Quest Graduate Answers
I’ve been to leadership conferences – what’s so special about this one?
This is not like any conference you have ever been to…I promise. Although it is called a leadership
conference it isn’t about how to lead others, it is more about leading your own life, about discovering
things about yourself.
Why would I give up a whole weekend – 12 hours on a Saturday?
The reason this day is so long is there is so much to cover. After a while, you won’t want to leave.
You get a chance to meet all kinds of kids from all over the country. It’s very different from being
in a class at school. You will do things in those 12 hours that give you a chance to really get to know
the other participants. I know it may sound weird, but you may feel closer to these kids in one weekend
than you do to friends you have known for years.
What if I think my life is already great – why would I want to go to Quest?
A lot of the teens at Quest have awesome lives, but you can always learn something that would make your
life better. If there is something in your life that you don’t have, but really want – like better
grades, a better relationship with your parents, a girl/boyfriend, the ability to walk into a party
where you don’t know anyone and have a blast – there is a way to have it. If you want something and
don’t have it, it’s because you don’t know HOW to get it, or it is out of your comfort zone. Well,
there is a way to get past all that stuff. We learn things in Quest that challenge us to practice how
to set goals to get the things we want with games or skits or just talking to each other in small groups.
You’re telling me that in a weekend I can learn things like that?
Yeah, and have fun at the same time. I remember when we first went in the training and they asked us
to come into the room with no judgment, you know like looking at everybody and thinking, ‘he’s got on
weird shoes’ or ‘she looks really snobby, I would never sit next to her,’ stuff like that. Well then
the trainer asked us to notice how it is almost impossible not to judge because that’s what we’ve been
doing all our lives. But you know what is really cool – after a while you don’t judge and you start
to notice how much we are all alike. And that’s one reason you won’t want to leave. Because how many
times in your life can you be in a room with 50 other teens and feel that everyone really cares about
you and likes you just the way you are.
So let’s say I go and have a great weekend, then what?
That’s the cool part. Q1 is only the beginning. There are other trainings where you can learn more
things that will help you, especially when you start planning for college. There are also ways for us,
the grads to stay connected with projects and get togethers, and the best part is that you can come
back and be a teen staffer or teen guide for future trainings.
Look, it’s only one weekend of your life. What if it ends up being the best weekend of your life –
give it a chance, what do you have to lose?
