(BATON ROUGE, La.) A group of St. Paul’s students over the summer learned valuable leadership skills and built relationships at the five-day Leadership Youth Seminar (LYS) at Louisiana State University.

“(LYS) is not a lot of sleep; it’s a lot of work, but fun work,” junior Josh Rovira said. “You are always entertained, and you are always doing something, and you are making friends the entire time.”

Rovira, the junior class president, plans to use his experiences in his everyday life.

“There were some activities that I could apply to everyday life, but the experiences with the people that I met were the biggest thing for me,” Rovira said. “The conversations and interactions really impacted me in a personal way that I will use in my everyday life.”

Rovira went on to explain the crowd that LYS attracted.

“It was a pretty diverse crowd. There were a lot of people that were looking to be leaders, but there was a good mix of shy people, too. By the end of it, everyone was very energetic and into the LYS spirit,” he said.

Sophomore Michael Valliant was one of the younger members that attended LYS and urges more younger students to participate.

“(LYS) felt awkward at first, but they were really welcoming,” Valliant said. “After the first two days, I fit in really well with the groups of juniors and seniors.”

Valliant wants some younger members to attend LYS and feels they can still benefit from it.

“I think the younger members should definitely try it out,” Valliant continued. “You aren’t different from the group because they are welcoming. After the first two days, everyone is together, and it doesn’t matter what your age is. It will be the best option of your summer.”

For those interested in attended LYS next summer, registration starts Feb. 10, 2017, and the event will be held July 16-21, 2017. Registration takes place on the LYS website. Any other information concerning LYS can be found on the website, also.