Six Upper School students traveled to New York City in early February to take part in the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference, hosted this year by the Brooklyn Friends School and the Mary McDowell Friends School.

Juniors Katherine Burns, Morgann Thain, Yifeng (Zach) Shen, Jubi Dugdale and Kiryna Cotroneo and sophomore Bethlehem Fisher Guerra made the trip, along with faculty members Margaret Guerra and Rosanne Mistretta, who served as chaperones. Here is Morgann’s summary of what the experience meant to him:

“QYLC was a beautiful way to interact and connect with new people, communities and environments, which broadened my perspective. The most fruitful and personally enjoyable experiences of the conference came from talking with and getting to know other ‘youth leaders.’ I bonded with the Friends around me amazingly quickly, and it was awesome to see us quickly and comfortably talk about issues and ideas that are important to us.

“There were incredible impromptu discussion groups and Zach and I led a discussion-based workshop centered on Asian Americans. Our group was able to recognize general social, cultural, and even linguistic issues, talk about their effects and brainstorm solutions. We also tied strong knots of emotional support and solidarity, bringing to light things that deeply affected us and which we deeply cared about.

“Another important aspect was interacting with the world and community outside of the conference. Opportunities to take in the Brooklyn Museum and its feminist art exhibit were profound, and directly visiting Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal with members from its Conservancy was equally important. It was clear that our guides are committed to their cause, being both knowledgeable and caring about it, but the harsh difficulties of their struggles were also apparent, especially with the huge threats to the EPA.”