Farewell Atlanta Dear, Kansas Needs Me Now
Sigh, I have to be honest, this is a bittersweet moment for me. So bittersweet that I’m not sure whether I feel happy or sad.
Truth be told, the journey which has taken me from ambitious and hard working dreamer, has now taken me to risk taking Entrepreneur, Missionary and an Ambassador for change.
After arriving in Atlanta about 8:05 pm on October 2nd 2017, Sacha and I got picked up by a #YLAI2017 Representative and got an Uber to the Crowne Plaza-Midtown in Atlanta. The long 4 hour 20 minute flight didn’t give us any jetlag and our excitement was heightened when we got to our rooms. The layout was amazing and the amenities were extremely luxurious, by my standards anyway. Meridian really did pull out all the stops on this hotel by putting 250 YLAI Fellows in a hotel like this. According to google ratings, this hotel is scored as a 3 star hotel, however, the staff, accommodations, and meals definitely get 5 stars from me. I am extremely sure that all the other YLAI Fellows will agree with me.
After settling in, Sacha and I had dinner in the NEXT Restaurant with a young African American gentleman who insisted on referring to each of us as “Queens”. If you ever get to read this article, I just want you to know that it was a joy meeting you. What an honor, I felt truly blessed.
Five days went by so quickly and though I had promised myself that I would not get too emotional, there was an aching in my chest, a sensation of slowly being pulled away from something or someone important to me. I had bonded with so many of these YLAI Fellows, that they already felt like family. And what was even better for me, was that Avena and Eber from Dominica finally made it, and were able to share that experience too, praise the Lord!
Three days of intense and meaningful conferences and sessions, all with the purpose of instilling in us the motivation to do more and be more.
YLAI Agenda:
Day 1 — Welcome Remarks, Fellows’ Perspectives and approaches to Advance Prosperity and Security Across the Caribbean and Latin America
Day 2 — Telling Your YLAI Story, Social Media Training, Tri Sector Parnterships Workshop: Profit, Non-Profit, and Government
Day 3 — Engaging Your Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Responding to Natural Disaster with Resilience and Collaboration, Open Minds Open Doors, Engineering Holistic Success for YLAI 2017 and Beyond, Action Planning: Develop, Connect and Change — Starting Up is Easy, Scaling is Difficult.
Workshops: Using Lean Start Up Methodology to Develop a Sustainable Social Enterprise, Designing for Innovation, Leadership Compass-Discover Your Leadership Style, How Storytelling Can Build Your Business, Diversity, Core Values, and Inclusiveness is Good Business.
If we were not sure how we had gotten into this program, it was all being made clear now. No longer could we guess or doubt why we were selected, we just knew. Every single speaker had made it clear. We were the elite selected from a very competitive pool of applicants. Yes, I humbly accept and own that this is who and what I am; one of the Elite. But with great opportunities such as this, comes great responsibility.
And so, I, as well as Sacha and the other 248 #YLAI2017 Fellows have a job to do, to hold that torch and lead others to the flame and keep it burning. We got to meet awesome ambitious people just like ourselves.
But no one said that we couldn’t have fun too, and that is exactly what Sacha, a few friends and I decided to do on our last day in Atlanta. But Altanta has so much to offer such as
- The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
- The Atlanta History Center
- The Fox Theatre
- The World of Coca Cola and lots more.
If you’re planning a busy schedule of sightseeing, you can save time and money by purchasing an Atlanta CityPass in advance.
Wanna see where we went? Fasten your seat belts, here we go!
Sacha and I even got to sit in one of the News Anchor chairs and read from the teleprompter — how awesome is that right? I for one highly recommend this tour if you enjoy the news, love journalism and appreciate what it takes to make the news happen.
Winding down, Sabbath is near, time to head back to the hotel to worship. It had been a great and exciting day. Thank you Jesus. Who knows when I would be able to come here again. With that being said, thank you #YLAI2017 and Meridian.
Stay tuned for more on this journey…
