6.30.2016

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Seventieth Edition, June 30, 2016

Featured Alumna: Leanna Harbor '10

     When I was selected as my school’s HOBY ambassador, I had no idea what I was in for. Within the first few hours of the seminar, it became clear that this was not the average leadership program. I am definitely not the most outspoken person, but that HOBY weekend helped me gain the confidence to try things outside of my comfort zone, which was so helpful in the transition from a small high school to a large university, and is still used as I now transition to medical school. Six years later, I continue to be strengthened by the lessons learned, friendships made, and opportunities presented through this program.
     There are so many amazing aspects of HOBY, but one of my personal favorites is how it allows you to continue to grow as a leader years after you attend the seminar. I have been back as a volunteer every year since my ambassador year, and each year provides new relationships and challenges that further shape who I am as a leader. From being on Junior Staff to now being a Facilitator and the Alumni Advisor, I have always had so much support from the incredible members of this organization. It is amazing how so many different people can become a family, but that is what HOBY is to me. There is no doubt in my mind that without HOBY and the people within it, my life would be much different than it is today, and I will always be grateful to be a part of the HOBY family!
     Shameless plug, but if you are interested in becoming more involved in HOBY, please feel free to e-mail me at gahobyalumniadvisor@gmail.com. We are working on building our alumni community and would love to hear from you!

HOBY Info:
Georgia HOBY Store
Amazon Smile
  • If you shop at Amazon, then switch to Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2861279). It is the exact same website, but 0.5% of purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice.
  • Choose HOBY Georgia (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) as your charity!
Social Networking!!!
  • Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
  • Follow us on Twitter: @GA_HOBY  
  • Follow us on Instagram: hoby_georgia
  • Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
  • Follow us on SnapChat: hobygeorgia
  • Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
  • Check out our YouTube channel: HOBY Georgia
  • Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers
Hours
This Blog
  • If you would like post a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" in the future on this blog, then email gahobyfundraising@gmail.com also with your response!
  • Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

6.22.2016

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Sixty-Ninth Edition, June 22, 2016

Featured Alumna: Hilary Mills '05
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"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. Once you become a leader, success is all about growing others." - Jack Welch

Many of our HOBY stories begin the same way - those of us who were ambassadors did not want to spend a weekend with strangers being pushed out of our comfort zones. My older brother was a HOBY ambassador several years before I was and after watching him continuously volunteer on staff afterwards, I knew HOBY was something special. I dreaded having to give up a weekend of my summer and honestly, was afraid. I was shy, insecure and worried too much about what others thought of me.


Eleven years later, I have just finished up my last seminar as co-leadership seminar chair and can finally sit back and smile at what I have accomplished and how far I've come with the help of an outstanding team. I am proud to have seen just how much the seminars in Georgia have grown since I was an ambassador, and I'm excited to see what's next. HOBY is transformative. It's evident in the expressions on the faces of those who leave the seminar Sunday afternoon, as these are not the same expressions on the faces of those who arrive Friday morning. HOBY is not easily described. It is powerful, moving, and at some times, exhausting but above it all, well worth every single moment and I am proud to say that HOBY is in my DNA. 

HOBY Info:

Amazon Smile
    • If you shop at Amazon, then switch to Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2861279). It is the exact same website, but 0.5% of purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice.
    • Choose HOBY Georgia (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) as your charity!
    Social Networking!!!
    • Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
    • Follow us on Twitter: @GA_HOBY  
    • Follow us on Instagram: hoby_georgia
    • Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
    • Follow us on SnapChat: hobygeorgia
    • Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
    • Check out our YouTube channel: HOBY Georgia
    • Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers
    Hours
    • Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2f
    • Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email gahobyalumniadvisor@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
    • How far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?
    This Blog
    • If you would like post a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" in the future on this blog, then email gahobyfundraising@gmail.com also with your response!
    • Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

    6.14.2016

    Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
    Sixty-Eighth Edition, June 14, 2016

    Featured Alumna: Elizabeth Henderson '11
    "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." I can't tell you how many times I have read this quote by Woodrow Wilson and reminded myself that I'm not in this world to only live my life. I am here to help and to teach and so are you. We are here to help each other make this world a better place politically, socially, and economically.

    I was raised in Statesboro, Georgia, one of the many small, rural towns in South Georgia. After graduating high school in 2013, I made my way to Atlanta, where I am currently a rising Senior at Georgia Tech in Atlanta majoring in Industrial Design. In all honesty, I couldn't have made it to this point in my life without HOBY. I was an ambassador in 2011 and I have gone back to volunteer at the seminar every year with the exception of a location conflict last year, but I returned this year with a full heart ready to serve these young leaders. As an organization that impacted my life so much, I couldn't imagine not giving back to it. HOBY taught me so much as an ambassador and continues to teach me every year as I volunteer.


    One of the many things that HOBY taught me and that I try to instill in others is that one small change can make a huge impact and huge impacts aren't always made over night. It takes setting smaller, attainable goals to achieve a much bigger one. Having persistence, determination, and passion to keep moving forward is key in making a change and "enabling the world to live more amply." Since my ambassador year in 2011, these characteristics have grown in me and become part of my personality and I thank HOBY for that everyday. One thing HOBY alumni can do to jump on the path of "enabling the world to live more amply, with greater vision" is volunteer with the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership organization during the year and during the conferences both state wide and nation wide. This organization is powerful. We are molding and influencing the leaders of tomorrow to help bring light out of the darkness in this world and I wholeheartedly believe that by spreading light through a few high school juniors in Georgia, we can help spread light throughout the entire world.

    HOBY Info:

    Amazon Smile
      • If you shop at Amazon, then switch to Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2861279). It is the exact same website, but 0.5% of purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice.
      • Choose HOBY Georgia (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) as your charity!
      Social Networking!!!
      • Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
      • Follow us on Twitter: @GA_HOBY  
      • Follow us on Instagram: hoby_georgia
      • Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
      • Follow us on SnapChat: hobygeorgia
      • Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
      • Check out our YouTube channel: HOBY Georgia
      • Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers
      Hours
      • Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2f
      • Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email gahobyalumniadvisor@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
      • How far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?
      This Blog
      • If you would like post a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" in the future on this blog, then email gahobyfundraising@gmail.com also with your response!
      • Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

      6.04.2016

      Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
      Sixty-Seventh Edition, June 4, 2016

      Featured Alumnus: Nick Fazio '11

           Maya Angelou famously said, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” In the same spirit, I honestly can’t remember much of my ambassador year in 2011, but I can tell you how I felt on the ride home. I left that weekend from the sweltering Americus, GA, heat with an infectious enthusiasm, a newfound confidence in my leadership ability, and the charge to go out and improve the community around me.
           There are a lot of ways that leaders can serve both their community and society as a whole, and I am more than happy to say I have found my place here at Georgia HOBY. I love this organization. I love what it stands for. I love that we invest our time and energy in teens at the age they need it the most. I love that we pride ourselves on not teaching kids what to think, but rather teaching them how to think, a skill very low in supply these days. Most of all, I love the people I’ve gotten to meet through HOBY, and I consider it a privilege to have them as an extension of my family.
           I could tell you what HOBY has personally meant to me, but I think my love for the organization is better seen through the eyes of others. Every time I come back from the seminar, my friends laugh at me for the countless cheers I sing, the large smile painted across my face, and the endless stories I tell them about my fun-filled weekend. They don’t see Jr. Staff attack cars; they don’t see the ponies, but they see the joy I feel from it, and that’s what matters.
           Now that June is upon us, I hope your inner flame is reignited, and I thank you in advance for rekindling mine. You always do.

      HOBY Info:

      Amazon Smile
        • If you shop at Amazon, then switch to Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2861279). It is the exact same website, but 0.5% of purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice.
        • Choose HOBY Georgia (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) as your charity!
        Social Networking!!!
        • Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
        • Follow us on Twitter: @GA_HOBY  
        • Follow us on Instagram: hoby_georgia
        • Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
        • Follow us on SnapChat: hobygeorgia
        • Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
        • Check out our YouTube channel: HOBY Georgia
        • Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers
        Hours
        • Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2f
        • Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email gahobyalumniadvisor@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
        • How far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?
        This Blog
        • If you would like post a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" in the future on this blog, then email gahobyfundraising@gmail.com also with your response!
        • Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post