Round Square International Conference: Inspirational Encounter

Posted on October 10, 2014 by admin

On the first day of our Round Square International Conference at King’s Academy in Jordan, we were fortunate enough to hear the story of Shabana Basij-Rasikh. At the young age of 23, she has already founded both an organization called HELA, as well as a boarding school for Afghani girls, SOLA: School of Leadership Afghanistan.

Born in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime took over when she was only six years old. Coming from a family who valued education, she was dressed as a boy in order to be an escort for her older sister as they attended a secret school for girls. Her family knew the consequences of attending school and hiding her identity would be punishable by death. Luckily, she and her sister survived the Taliban reign and she attended her first public school in 2002.

Shabana was extremely angered that she was denied a proper education and was inspired to give the girls of Afghanistan the opportunity to go to school. During her time at Middlebury College, while studying international development and women’s studies, she co-founded the first tuition free all girls’ boarding school for young Afghani students. The first year they opened the school, there were four attendees and now there’s a total of 42. Their goal is to have at least one student from each of the 34 Afghani provinces.

The school is also involved in many initiatives such as a mentorship program. The students are paired with a mentor from a foreign country with whom they Skype and look up to as role models and consider friends. The school also takes part in a virtual classroom program in which the classes at SOLA Skype with a classroom of a foreign school.

The work that Shabana has done has inspired all of us, her selflessness and motivation to give Afghanistan girls an education is incredible. We plan to continue her efforts to raise awareness and funds for SOLA and motivate the LCC students to get involved.

Jessica Lackstein ’15 and Sabrina Chan ’15 – Round Square International Conference, King’s Academy, Jordan

Round Square: Integrating Leadership Into Everyday Life

Posted on February 19, 2014 by admin

Over the week of January 27, five LCC grade 10 students, James Kastner, Zack Shine, Victoria Kalisky, Jennifer Beallor, Arianna Galbraith along with myself, Jessica Lackstein travelled to Haliburton, Ontario. We represented LCC at the Round Square Regional Conference of the Americas hosted by St. Clements School and Bayview Glen School. Students travelled from all corners of the globe in order to attend this conference.

Upon arrival at the hotel our first welcome was from two Colombian students. We exchanged information and instantly became friends. As more and more delegates from their respective countries began introducing themselves to us we came to the realization that although we came from complete different corners of the world, we have much in common.

While riding the three-hour drive up to Camp Wanakita, everyone was beaming with laughter, cheer and pride. I recall sitting on the bus with my friend and saying, “ I can’t believe students travelled all the way from Australia!” Just then, someone from Australia peeked through the crack between our chairs and said, “Australia? I’m sorry but you said Australia! That’s where I’m from!” From all his pride and excitement I knew the people I would meet and the friendships I would make would last forever. From that moment on all my worries and fears had diminished and I was more than ready for what the next four days had to offer.

At the camp we participated in various outdoor activities such as: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, high ropes course and dogsledding, an obvious favourite. Although it seems as if it was all “fun and games” we incorporated many new leadership skills into each activity. Whether it was helping the driver guide the dogsled through the blistering cold or encouraging your friend to climb the high ropes course, there were leadership skills involved in every process.

The most challenging yet most educational activity was an indoor evening activity. Twenty-three different qualities such as: love for learning, curiosity and open-mindedness were all placed on the floor and we were told to sit at the one that we felt was our strongest. It took a good three minutes for everyone to decide where they felt the strongest connection and even then people still had a very distinct look of uncertainty on their face. Once everyone had decided, we were asked to stand up one by one and explain to a room of about 50 people why we felt this was our strongest quality. To be able to stand up in front of 50 complete strangers and talk about myself was one of the hardest challenges.

After completing the first exercise, we had to then sit by our weakest quality and address the room once more. One by one, we all got up and addressed the room. Not only were we speaking up about our weaknesses and our strengths but we are also becoming more self-aware. As more people spoke, the room got louder and more people voiced their opinion. Everyone seemed far more motivated and determined to succeed and most importantly more aware of their position in the world.

The conference was an experience of a lifetime. To anyone interested in attending a conference, whether it is the junior or the senior Round Square, I highly recommend attending. The bonds created and lessons learned will last forever. Most importantly, we learned what it takes to be a great leader and how to integrate leadership qualities into every thing you do in life. – Jessica Lackstein ’15

Round Square Americas Conference 2013: Pushing Limits

Posted on May 15, 2013 by dlevy

As we arrived in New Brunswick for the Regional Round Square conference at Rothesay Netherwood School, we wondered what would come of a six-night adventure in the Maritimes. After having a delicious warm meal, we settled into tents and played games to break the ice with the delegates. The experience was extremely valuable and was made much easier as everyone seemed to be in the same boat. Right off the bat, we were pushed out of our comfort zone and were forced to tent with complete strangers. Although this was scary at first, it was a great way to make friends for the rest of the conference. None of us really knew what we were getting into, but were more than pleased to discover that there were delegates from literally all over the world.

When we woke up it was an unbelievable feeling hearing people speak Spanish, English, French, Mandarin and other languages. It was a perfect intro to our first day which included a small but educational Model United Nations. This conference was more like an introductory to Model UN that everyone seemed to enjoy. All delegates were separated into four different subcommittees. Each delegate was exposed to some of our global issues and how the UN works to solve them.

That night, we were pleased to find ourselves in tents with two to four other people that we could officially call our friends. The next morning we quickly packed up our tents and went off to YMCA’s Camp Glenburn. Camp Glenburn has a unique rustic feel and all the delegates were in awe of the incredible landscape. As soon as we got off the bus, Round Square once again pushed our boundaries as we participated in high ropes, low ropes and team challenge courses. All of these activities made us trust our fellow delegates as our hands were really in theirs. We also played a number of games to expand our horizons.

All in all, Camp Glenburn has been extremely fun and exhilarating and we look forward to the rest of the conference. – Matthew Kaspy ’14

Round Square: A Rich Mosaic of Culture

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

It is rare to have the opportunity to sit in a room alongside people from five different continents, and to, over the course of an hour, have eight conversations with people from eight different countries. The conference, hosted at Herlufsholm Skole in Denmark, acted as a binding force between people from every corner of the globe: people traveled from near (England and Germany) and far (Armenia, Kenya, India, Australia, South Africa, and Canada). A beautiful blend of accents and languages could be heard echoing through the school’s halls at any given moment. We were fortunate enough to have delegates from all Round Square regions at the conference, so we knew that we had a culturally enriching experience in store for us. Personally, my participation in the conference was so incredibly different from anything that I had ever experienced. Although I have been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit in my lifetime, I had never had the opportunity to interact with so many people of my age from so many diverse places at once. I was fascinated by the rich cultures and ideas that each group of delegates brought to the conference. I loved hearing stories about their day-to-day lives. It was evident that although we all came from such different backgrounds and experiences, we were all the same in so many ways.

Several days into the conference, each group had the opportunity to display their culture in a much-anticipated cultural evening, which would prove to be a highlight of everybody’s trip. The event showcased diverse cultural features from each country, including a traditional Danish dance, a British poem recitation, an Indian yoga demonstration, a lesson on Australian slang, and many more. We were taken on a journey across the globe in just two hours. We, along with the students from Toronto, presented a reenactment of Canadian history. This particular moment in the conference truly captured one of Round Square’s central “IDEALS:” internationalism. The national pride that each group displayed, as well as international pride and appreciation for the enthusiasm of our fellow delegates, was palpable. The most incredible aspect of the evening was the lasting impression that it seemed to have on all of the participants; it sparked curiosity and desire to learn more about each culture that we were exposed to. The evening seemed to accomplish the fundamental objective of the conference: to “encounter, engage, and enjoy” the rich mosaic of culture that we were fortunate enough to immerse ourselves in for a week. — Allie Mayers ’13

Round Square: Conquering Fears

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

Our conference in Denmark was entitled, “Exploring Heights” and on the fifth day of the conference we woke up at 6:30 am as usual, to catch the bus to “Kragerup Gods,” Denmark’s first and only high ropes adventure course. Once we arrived we were split into two groups. Those in the first group were the first to start the high ropes course while the second group had to wait one hour so that there wouldn’t be too big of a line. Since I was in the second group, we crossed the street to what looked like an old barn from the outside. But to my surprise once the big barn doors opened we were shocked to see a human sized foosball table and an archery station. Easy enough to say we were well amused for that hour playing several soccer games with our arms harnessed on a long pole. While I was busy playing human sized foosball with some of the German students Maxwell had got a bull’s-eye in archery.

Once the hour had passed and it was our time to take on the high ropes course we were all excited. After everyone had been harnessed we were taken though a quick demo of how to safely go about the high ropes course. I had already done something similar to this in Tremblant so I considered myself ready to take it on. There were four different adventure courses, all with different levels of intensity, green, blue, dark blue and red. Green being the easiest we all had to start there. A German boy and I were the first to give it a go. At first it was pretty easy but once we were all the way up to dark blue I started to get nervous. The German boy I was with, Moritz, didn’t seem to mind the height. Once it was lunch break, Moritz and I manned the BBQ’s and made everyone’s burgers and sausages. The lunch break was well needed but we still had the red course to do!

Half way through one of the sections in the red course I hit a wall. At over 40 feet above ground, I felt I could no longer push myself to beat this course. But then I remembered something my dad always says, “mind over matter.” If it were the same course but only 10 ft. off the ground it would be a piece of cake. So I overcame my fears and finished as much as I could with the time I had.

In all it was a great day. Not only did I become good friends with Moritz, but I had also challenged myself and found a way to conquer my fears. I had literally “explored the heights.”– Charles Laframboise ’13