We all aspire to be somebody more accomplished than ourselves. Sports players look up to professional athletes, drama club actors admire those leading on Broadway, and those who want to change the world study the people that already have. Observing the achievements of a person can teach you a lot about them. When this list is extensive and the person is only a junior in high school, lots of potential to become an avid role model is present. This student is Kaylee Walsh, a future world changer.
Kaylee Walsh co-presented a workshop at the E3 conference hosted by Woodland Worldwide held on December 8th. Not only was Walsh a student presenter, but she was the only one. Don’t think for a second that this position, as well as all of her other accomplishments, awards and recognition were just handed to her.
Along with being ranked number one overall academically in her 8th grade class, Walsh received the Scholar-Leader Award. In the words of the Connecticut Association of Schools, this award is given to two students “who have distinguished themselves in scholarship and leadership in school and the community”.
“Being Scholar-Leader was very important because it showed me not only was I good academically but I also had a good influence on my peers and was a good member of the school community,” elaborates Walsh.
As a freshman, Walsh met Meghan Geary, English teacher at Woodland, and learned that Woodland Worldwide did lots of service based activities as well as worked to benefit women. She knew she wanted to get involved. This club presented the issues women face from all around the world and Walsh soon understood that women are not equal yet– so, she set out to make a change.
After discussing what exactly she wants to work to change, Walsh went on to explain that she, “Wants to end stigmas, create equality in the workplace, fight child marriage and/or forced marriages, and stop the infringement of basic human rights.”
When she was a sophomore, Walsh received the Woodland Worldwide Leadership Scholarship and in July of 2016, participated in Girls’ Leadership Worldwide, a nine day leadership conference in Hyde Park, New York at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center. While there, Walsh attended numerous workshops,went to visit the United Nations and met officials with various jobs that work there.
“We had a lot of workshops that we went to that had to do with diversity, leadership, public speaking, not being afraid to put yourself out there, being confident. There were so many transformative workshops that really taught us how to be a better leader,” detailed Walsh about her opportunity to go to the conference.
She also gained more knowledge about the many ways to be a leader.
“Being a leader doesn’t mean having to be exactly like a certain politician, there are so many ways you can apply leadership,” said Walsh. “You can create a path or a business or a non-profit that benefits something that really matters to you and you don’t have to just settle for a mundane job.”
In her current year as junior, Walsh maintains to be a prominent member of Student Government. Of course she isn’t one of the quiet ones who sit in the back and only go to mandatory meetings. Walsh has a strong desire to improve Woodland overall and is constantly introducing new ideas to do so.
“I really like to make our school better in different ways, she said. “It’s not just a club that goes on college applications to me, it’s actually speaking for my student body and doing what they want.”
Walsh is also extremely involved with Hawkwings and is serving the role as president this year.
“Our whole idea is about being kind to others, so for that I’ve tried to really make it so people don’t go unnoticed. We’ve added things like giving thanks to people who don’t necessarily get thanks,” said Walsh. “I really just want to promote the messages of these clubs and really give a reason for being there and the way I see that should be done is adding something new that really embodies that message.”
Though Walsh was involved in the “Stimulating STEM” workshop at the E3 conference, Walsh does not have the intent of pursuing a career within STEM (an abbreviation that stands for “Science Technology Engineering Mathematics”). Walsh, however, focuses her interest in international affairs.
“I went to Yale Model Congress for the past two years and this year, I was on the foreign relations committee and it really opened my eyes to my interest in foreign politics and that is something I think I want to tie in with my life,” explains Walsh.
As for what Walsh wants to change in relation to the E3 conference, she wants to revise and modify the workshop in order to make it more knowledgeable and appealing in order to present it to middle school students.
We are often taught to take every day as it comes at us and make do with what is given. Not Walsh, though. She will take anything thrown at her and shape it into something meaningful and important. She is someone we can all learn from, and more importantly, learn with.
