Georgia Magazine - January 2018 - 26A

In packing for trip, delegates
leave comfort zone at home

LOUIS TONSMEIRE

BYRON MCCOMBS

From left, Grace Wilson, of Alma, and Shawn
Johnson, of Tennille, represented Georgia
EMC on the 2017 Washington Youth Tour.

JoAnna Winborn, right, a 2017 Washington
Youth Tour delegate from Ocmulgee EMC in
Eastman, poses with a Marine at the Marine
Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima statue).
She is now a cadet at The Citadel in
Charleston, S.C.

few months before the Washington Youth Tour (WYT)
each year, delegates from Georgia's electric cooperatives receive a suggested packing list for the weeklong trip. Among other items, the list includes six casual
touring outfits, two dressy outfits, comfortable shoes,
rain gear and sunscreen.
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One thing not on the recommended list, though, is
each delegate's comfort zone. It's definitely excess baggage
for this trip.
Stepping boldly outside the familiar and being flexible and open to new
people and activities are part of the leadership experience designed to help
delegates grow in many ways so the trip can have a lasting-often lifelong-
impact.
Forgoing the comfort zone is a common theme in the surveys that
former WYT delegates complete after the trip ends. The 2017 group, which
numbered 113, is no exception.
"A lot of times, your comfort zone is holding you back from achieving
something, whether it be meeting new people or trying new things," says
Dalton Crowe, who represented Amicalola EMC in Jasper on the 2017 tour.
"Sit with someone new every day, go out and dance on the dance floor,
ask as many questions as possible, thank your bus driver at every stop and
don't let the exhaustion get to you," advises Jennifer Thorpe, a delegate from
Coastal Electric Cooperative in Midway.
"Each person had their own backstory, ideas, beliefs and personalities,"
says Tillman Kinley, who represented Hartwell-based Hart EMC. "Despite
our differences, I now have a family of 112 new people who will be great
friends, no matter how different we are."
At the end of the tour, the delegates' parents notice the dramatic impact
that just one short week can have. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you
for giving my daughter the experience of a lifetime," writes one mother to
Senior Tour Director Gale Cutler of Georgia EMC in Tucker. "Her world is
larger, her vision longer and her aspirations greater."

June 7: Kickoff banquet, Atlanta
June 8: Team-building activities; flight
to Washington, D.C.
Dates TBD for the following
activities:
* Tour and lunch at Mount Vernon;
Holocaust Memorial Museum; dinner
at Union Station; evening guided
tour of memorials; photo op at White
House
* Guided tour of Jefferson, Lincoln,
Korean War and Vietnam Veterans
memorials; Arlington National
Cemetery guided tour; dinner
January 2018

performance of "Newsies" at Toby's
Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Md.
* All States assembly; tour Smithsonian museums; cruise on Potomac
River
* Tour Supreme Court, U.S. Capitol
and Washington National Cathedral;
Sunset Parade at U.S. Marine Corps
War Memorial (Iwo Jima statue)
* Meet with Georgia's congressional
delegation; tour Newseum and
Library of Congress; All States
farewell event
June 14: Return flight to Atlanta
Note: Itinerary subject to change
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

BETH MCMILLAN

Washington Youth Tour 2018 tentative itinerary

From left, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.)
visits with delegates Derek Huell (Flint Energies) and Garrett Botkin (Sumter EMC) at
the Capitol. Huell was chosen by his fellow
delegates to be Georgia's representative on
the Youth Leadership Council, a nationwide
organization.
26A

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - January 2018