DesotoExplorer.com / FBI trip has teen rethinking career

Archive for Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Hayley Brown, left, poses for a photo with some of the friends she made at the FBI National Academy Associates Youth Leadership Program she attended recently in Virginia.

By Leann Sulzen

July 16, 2008

De Soto High School sophomore Hayley Brown's goal is to become a lawyer, but she's having second thoughts after participating in an FBI National Academy Associates Youth Leadership Program this summer in Virginia.

The program is for incoming high school sophomores and juniors ages 14 to 16 who have demonstrated above average academic standards, as well as good citizenship.

"Now that I've seen a couple of different things, maybe that is something that I do want to do," she said.

Only about 500 students have ever completed the program, Hayley said.

"I found out about it through one of my dad's colleagues," she said. "He was the past academy president from Mississippi."

To apply, Hayley had to write an essay on what leadership meant to her and go through an interview. The program was June 24 through July 1.

Classes lasted from six to 10 hours a day, including lunch breaks and activities, and covered subjects that all had to do with leadership.

Now that she is back in De Soto, Hayley said she has had trouble readjusting to her non-structured days, which included running from 5:45 to 7 a.m. to train for the Yellow Brick Road, which is the FBI's obstacle course.

"I didn't get to keep running it, though, because I had an asthma attack and I didn't have my inhaler," Hayley said.

Hayley said her goal was to become a lawyer, and on top of volleyball and softball, she was involved in De Soto High School's Youth Court.

"Youth Court is so much fun because I like to get up there and speak for someone else," she said.

Hayley said the biggest thing she learned was from the courses.

"I definitely got a lot of insight on leadership and how to be a leader in the classes," she said.

Plus, she met new friends from across the nation.

"I have friends now that I've become really close with that I hope to stay in contact with," Hayley said