If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be where and who I am today, I would have laughed at them. I was never extremely social or a vocal leader in the community at Wheaton Academy. It wasn’t until Project LEAD that I stepped out of my comfort zone and started to do things that I hadn’t done in the past.
In the spring of my junior year, I was chosen to be a part of the Project LEAD Spiritual Life team along with 14 other students. I remember being worried at first glance about the team. It looked like a lot of big social leaders, and I did not know where I fit in both socially and as a leader. Over the 9 months of my senior year, I can honestly say that the people on my team were some of my closest friends. We grew together in a way that I could not have expected. From the challenges of a poorly led worship night, to creating an awesome worship chapel during Spiritual Life Week – all these things helped us grow together as a team. We failed and we succeeded, but whatever we did, we did it together. The relationships I have created through being on a Project LEAD team will last a lot longer than my time at Wheaton Academy.
Project LEAD helped me grow as a leader. Just being on a team helped me have a platform to lead at Wheaton Academy. Being a leader in a large community is difficult because most leaders “stand out” in their early years on campus. I was not one of those students during my first three years here. Something I appreciate about Project LEAD is that it gives students an opportunity to lead despite not standing out. If I had not been in Project LEAD, I do not think that I would have become a leader on campus. Everyone has the potential to be a leader. For some students, if the opportunity is not given to them, they will not step out and do it on their own. It was Project LEAD that gave me the platform to lead and it was up to me to then take advantage of the opportunity.
God impacts people who are involved in Project LEAD. Not only does he impact the people on the team, but it spreads to the student body through their Leadership. God showed up in real ways my senior year. During Project LEAD, you do projects and plan events. A lot of the times, I found myself caught up in logistics and planning, and I would not take the time to simply pray about an event. I found myself on the Wednesday of Spiritual Life Week dumbfounded at the fact that I had missed it. I had missed that we can plan all we want, but if we do not spend time earnestly praying for an event, we aren’t doing our job. I spent the following two days intensely praying for our worship night that Thursday and our worship chapel on that Friday. To say the least, God showed up in big and awesome ways in both of those events. It is a wonderful feeling being a part of creating something where God shows up. God uses Project LEAD as His hands in this community. Through events like these, God touches the lives of those who are involved in putting them together. There was a point during every event, where I would step back and just be in awe of the God who is behind it all.
God has used Project LEAD to change my life radically. Through Project LEAD I have created Christ-centered relationships that push me in my faith, I have been given the opportunity to take Leadership in a large community, and I have been extremely impacted by God.
Adam, Class of 2015
Wheaton Academy Institute leverages the 170 year history of Wheaton Academy's challenges and successes to advance Christian schooling globally for the glory of God.