hammie winners

The Aftermath

When I flew back east to South Carolina, I gained 3 hours and a lifetime of new experiences and connections (plus lots and lots of inside jokes). I went home not only with the sloppily folded luggage in my suitcase, but with the luggage of new thoughts and perspectives.

I’m a firm believer that it is the people who make a place or program special. I had read each person’s biography beforehand, and after arriving in Seattle, I was relieved that everyone was actually human. Thanks to the close-knit size of our group, it was easy to build close friendships with each other. I am still in a stupor at all the amazing things we did. Among them, of course, were managing to churn out a PDP (Lily’s acronym for personal development plan), finding the lone black bead (thanks to Ramon), having a collective panic attack about debt, avoiding the middle shower, and taking Intro to Yoga 101. We encountered the former mayor, Roland Strong’s protein structure, Helen Thayer’s polar-bear-fighting dog, Garth Stein’s talking dog, not to mention our very own Alexander Hamilton look-alike. The most amazing part for me was being able to listen to other people’s personal stories. In fact, the interactions that took place on schedule and off-schedule made me muse that maybe we could have done it all by ourselves. If the twenty-five of us had simply gathered together in a room, that itself would have made an amazing experience.

Still, the program would not have been nearly as phenomenal without our truly incredible staff, particularly the Cox family, Joslin, Bill and Evan. It humbles me to realize that I am part of the reason for all their dedicated efforts. I liked Evan’s nonchalant shrug when I remarked about his decision to donate a week of his time.

I felt especially empowered when Mr. Cox, after listening to our “When Life Throws You a Curve” discussion, declared: “We’re going to be all right.” I think it’s always important for all of us to believe in that. On a lighter note, that was the same way Kem and I felt about our first gulps of Starbucks Mochas after wandering around Pike’s Market in the hot afternoon. We finally quenched our thirsts and thought, “we’re going to be all right.”

A weeklong academy and a 4 year program are real evidence that Mr. Cox doesn’t settle for thinking small. The Hamilton Program is fortunate for being well-funded; let’s keep it that way. I urge all of us to help raise money and awareness at our high schools and local organizations. The Hamilton Program is making impressive strides every year, and we have to help in any way we can. After all, we can’t let the Aaron Burr Friends Association outdo us.

For now, Facebook may be the only coping method for our Leaders Academy withdrawal symptoms. Remember, we may be future presidents, future doctors, or future politicians in the next seven years, but look at who we have already become in the present. We are driven scholars, unique personalities, and inspired leaders. We are teenagers ablaze. We are twenty-first century Hamiltonians.

Looking forward to Guatemala,

John Chen