Honors.

From July 10 to 20, I had the opportunity to leave the world behind and become a counselor for the Governor's Honors Academy. Long story short, this is a nine day leadership camp at SUU for excelling high school seniors. I attended it myself at the age of 17, and this year I was able to return as a counselor.

For some reason I entered this experience not expecting to learn anything new, but just to help these kids learn about themselves and where life could take them. After all, I've already been to GHA so what else could it really teach me? By the end though, I'm pretty sure I learned more than they did about how to be the best person I can be every day, set and achieve goals, and start on the path to accomplishing my dreams (as soon as I figure out what those dreams are).

Here is a compilation of some of my favorite quotes from the speakers I got to experience:

"When they told me I couldn't do it, I said, 'you watch me.'" - Cyndi Gilbert

"Everything is always changing but it doesn't matter. You deal with the cards you're dealt every day." - Steve Gilbert

"If you have an idea, and turn it into a dream, and plan it and live with it until it succeeds, it will succeed." - Fred Adams

"Remember, working eight hours a day at something you don't love is hell." - Fred Adams

 "The 'good life' is always a beginning, not an ending. It's getting there, not being there. It's on the side of the mountain, not the top." - Don Gale

"Don't be normal." - Bruce Crankshaw

 "By changing our thoughts, we can change our lives." - David Litchford

There really are no words to accurately explain how GHA changed me and how it continues to change everyone involved every day. But, as Andy Andrews so eloquently put in The Noticer: "Life is a little like dessert. Keep your fork, the best is yet to come."