Ontario Student Leadership Conference

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My OSLC Thank You

Nov 26, 2011

It has finally come to that point for me where the effects of OSLC hit me. It usually happens a little bit earlier than this but none the less it always finds it ways to me.
It is when I am able to stop focusing on the “to do’s” and “must get done’s” and I start to really feel what was just accomplished. I love when I am able to finally sit back and soak it all in!

I asked the spirit leaders on our facebook page what was their “memorable moment” at OSLC and if they thought they were living a great story. It dawned on me this morning that I asked the question but I never answered it myself.

My memorable moment at OSLC happened at the very end. It is when I walked through the halls and the staff were packing up, picking up garbage and planning their great escape. It is when I walked into the ballroom and saw the chairs being stacked, the screens torn down and the hotel staff talking about their next set up. Usually when I do this ritual there is this ghost that haunts me and tells me it is over. It is this sinking feeling that stays with me and dirties my skin.
This year I did not feel that ghost. This year I was not haunted by what was over. I felt something completely different and it was incredible. I don’t have children but I can only imagine that what I was feeling was what a proud mother would feel after her kid did something great.
So my memorable moment at OSLC was that feeling you get when it was over and you know that nothing major went wrong and you can really call it the most successful conference you ever had!
I usually get bogged down by the things that did not get done or the things that went wrong. I didn’t not feel that weight this year. I only felt happiness.
Several hotel staff made comments to me that in comparison to the years before I was not only well composed but energized. I knew it was true - I felt like I was flying for the duration on the conference and I was just waiting for someone to come and clip my balloon. It never happened. So when OSLC ended and there really was nothing that went wrong I felt like someone handed me the world and I was crawling on top of it! A coordinator could not ask for anything more! It really was the perfect ending.

Am I living a great story?
I have done a lot of reflecting, a lot of looking back and I can’t help but think that my great story started with OSLC. In this life I have learned that it is rare to find a job that gives you intrinsic rewards. Since I have found one, OSLC has always been more than a job to me. It has been a great many chapters in my life. There are few people out there that can say…..they were given a chance…...and that chance made all the difference in the life they chose to live.
My great story includes advisors who deal with my 100 emails a week, presenters to teach me more than lessons, sponsors who give more than just money, staff who will say yes to any job you give them, students who actually want to make a difference in their schools and spirit leaders who change the very core of me. I know that my life will have many more chapters and who knows what lies in my future. But I am so very thankful for the chapter that I am in right now!

Thank you for being apart of OSLC 2011 and for being apart of my great story.

I look forward to many more chapters with you!

In thanks, leadership, and love
 Ange!