Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF)

By: David J

STLF is an organization that got started just from four college students that were eating ramen noodles, and they wanted to make a difference in the world. They went to travel to different parts of the United States because they wanted to make a change in someone’s life even if it was just a little smile on someone's face, that made it all worth wild. It’s about a bus where different schools around the general area get together and travel to different states and stop at organizations that are in need of some type of help in their business. Many kids join in the adventure and get involved, but most of them are very shy or very nervous. After the first day they become more outgoing to the whole experience. On the first day of the trip, most kids only sit by their friends and just talk to their friends, but after an hour on being on the bus, we play a little game. The game is just like speed dating but with a twist! The person on the outside of the seat gets up and moves, then the leaders of the bus ask everyone a question and you would have to talk to the person next to you. You would have to start off by introducing yourself and saying where you are from. We don’t stop this game until the person on the outside is back at their own spot. After that little game, people start to talk to each other. Then, after a while, everyone starts to become friends, and they all laugh and smile. When we get to our first destination, we stop at a church or even a YMCA where we would be staying the night. After we unpack everything, we all get together for the first night and play some games. We also do some activities just so everyone can become closer. There are a total of five leaders, and they separate all the teenagers into little groups. That will be your group for the rest of the trip.
They sometimes make some handshakes or just take silly pictures. We have fun together, but we also have fun helping the community and the businesses. While we help communities, kids come up to us asking if they could help us out with the project. The whole trip is a great experience even if you’re a shy person. This trip can change how you act around people and how you can see that you can make a difference in your community.