Each year a four day seminar for students going into their junior year is held on the Kansas State campus.  The purpose of Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY Kansas) is to provide lifelong leadership development opportunities to empower individuals to reach their highest potential.  Each high school selects an ambassador to attend the seminar on the campus of Kansas State.  This summer the ambassador for Southeast High School was Jacob Wyckoff.

When asked what one thing he would like to pass on to his fellow students, Jacob said it would be to stress “the importance of being able to lead yourself before you can lead a group”.

“Once you have mastered how to do that you can work on group leadership and start your own movement for something that you think needs changed,” Jacob said.  “(Another) thing I would like to pass on from HOBY is that if you want anything to change, you need to be the one with guts to be the odd one out ‘advertising’ for your movement.”

In addition to learning about personal leadership the students did team building and problem solving activities.  They took part in a Career Luncheon, meeting professionals from a variety of fields including agriculture, economics, medicine and law.  They took part in several service projects, including a carnival for children living in the community.

“The carnival was when they brought in kids to the Student Union and we had set up games for them to play and we gave them candy for prizes,” Jacob said.  “Other service projects included making chew toys for shelter dogs, making table decorations for nursing homes, and recording audio books for Children’s Mercy Hospital.”

The ambassadors also took part in their own Olympics.

“My favorite part of the HOBY Olympics was the tennis ball game because it was very funny and it got you out of you comfort zone,” Jacob said.  “In the game you had to hold a tennis ball in between your chin and neck and pass it around a circle.”

“It was an amazing experience for him,” said Jacob’s mom, Tricia Wyckoff.  “HOBY is a great organization for future leaders and offers life-changing motivation for many that attend.  Thanks for helping kids make a difference.”