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The Personal Experience of an NYLN Member Workshop reveals the true power inside all of us Did you indulge yourself in the land of Big Macs and French Fries on November 20th? If you did, you were part of history in the making because November 20th was McDonald's World Children's Day. According to the President and CFO of Ronald McDonald Charities, Ken Barun, this event, "represents the most expansive single-day fundraising event in McDonald's history, probably any company's history." I had the privilege of being a part of this event in my own way, by spending the day at McDonald's Corporate Headquarters in Oakbrook. A group of physically and developmentally challenged students were given the opportunity to hear about the leadership as well as job shadow with some employees. This was an amazing thing to see a corporation pull together to offer this kind of chance to a group of young people that often gets the short end of the stick. My job on November 20th was two-fold. I job shadowed Bill Whitman, who as I was told, and eventually saw firsthand, is the Communications "Guru" for McDonalds. On the other side, however, I got the privilege of being one of two speakers that day who talked about different aspects of leadership. No matter what the venue, I'm always nervous when I have to speak about the things I've done because I'd rather focus on what those in my audience has done. But this time was different. My speech followed the speech of Marca Bristo, who just finished serving to two terms as the Presidential Advisor on Disability. What could I tell my audience that she didn't already say ten times better than me? So I told them the one thing a thousand leadership conferences couldn't teach me. Before I started getting into leadership roles 2 years ago, I didn't want to be identified as a person with limitations, as different, let alone a wheelchair user. It took a lot of culminating events to wake me up and make me realize what I was doing. Then it dawned on me that I'm part of a group of people that knows no race, gender, age, or religion. I realized that being a part of this group is something not everyone is blessed with. I told my audience that the most important leadership quality was the power of being themselves. If you can't be comfortable in your own skin, don't bother with anything else. No college acceptance letter, athletic opportunity, or big paying job can give you the key to success you really need, yourself. Someone one once stated that, "there is one thing we can do better than anyone else, we can be ourselves." I commend McDonald's as well as other similarly focused corporations for doing all they can to remind the future generations of the power that we each have. Lauren Lamb is a junior at Seneca Township High School, where she is active as the speech team captain and also as a member of the drama, SADD, and Spanish Clubs as well as chorus. Lauren uses a wheelchair after being born with cerebral palsy. She hopes to attend Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in the fall of 2004 and major in Public Relations and Persuasive Communication.
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President's remarks and for video and audio: For 12 years, the ADA has proven that when people are treated with dignity and respect, our entire nation benefits. And the best way to celebrate the progress the ADA has made is to continue and build on that progress. And here's an update on NFI:Honoring the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
See a mention of NYLN's youth directed survey, in which, Executive Council member, Rebecca Hare, commments. |
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