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Preparing for leadership

Have you heard that Indians eat bark? Yes, really. Many of us might know that isn't true, but it is one of the typical misconceptions people have about Indians, along with the fact that we speak 'Hindu'. And, thanks to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, that we have eight-year-old kings, sacrifice people's hearts while praying to Kali, and eat frozen monkey brains and snake surprise, washing it all down with some eyeball soup.

When 16-year-old Rohina Phadnis realized that many students who are not exposed to other cultures might take some of these ideas as the truth, she knew things needed to change. It was an "eye-opener, but not necessarily a revelation", said the eleventh-grader from Hillsdale, New Jersey. From that point on, she has channelled her interests to focus on the issues of human rights and multiculturalism.

Phadnis is taking part in the National Young Leaders Conference that began on July 17 along with 350 other high school juniors and seniors. The NYLC is run through the auspices of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, a non-profit educational organisation that seeks to educate young people from all over the world about the political process, policy-making, and, specifically, leadership qualities.

"The National Young Leaders Conference provides the opportunity for students to distinguish themselves as tomorrow's leaders," said Michael Lasday, CYLC executive-director. By day three the students had already been separated in leadership groups and faced a daunting task -- simulating the actions of the US foreign policy community.

Phadnis and the other students, in an exercise entitled 'If I were the President', were faced with a crisis in the former Soviet Union and had to decide whether to deploy US troops to de-escalate the situation. When the game was over, Phadnis realized that policy-making and playing president is not really about black and white.

"There are lots of things that can come up and force you to change the way you create policy," she said.

Along with leadership conferences Phadnis will have the opportunity to pick the brains of the staff of Senators Toricelli and Lautenberg, as well as the staffers from Representative Marge Roukema's camp. Another favorite activity of the students is the "Model Congress". This allows the students to role-play and overcome their personal biases, a true leadership quality.

Phadnis is to play an ultra-conservative Republican, an ideology she does not identify herself with. Some issues the students will be debating are education, the legalization of medicinal marijuana, and an issue close to Phadnis, hate crimes. After the horror of Columbine, students everywhere felt a sense of insecurity, and when it was known that the killers were racially motivated it struck minority students even harder.

"School violence is a direct threat to everything students are. People must be less ignorant and should have a general acceptance of different people," said Phadnis. She attributes her ability to accept different people mainly to her heritage. "Being an Indian American makes it easier to understand and accept different cultures."

Asked what she had best liked about the conference thus far, she said, "I really have been enjoying getting to meet new people. Not just people from New Jersey, but meeting people of different cultures from all over the country."

While she will have the opportunity to meet prominent journalists and other leaders in the policy-making community and the three branches of government, Phadnis and the other students will also have time in Baltimore's Inner Harbour, and other leisure activities. In the end it still is summer vacation.

Students selected for the conference are nominated by faculty or even backed by fellow students. While her ninth-grade English teacher nominated Phadnis, the girl herself has no plans of a career in education. She plans to do something in broadcast journalism, due to her interest in writing and reporting. Broadcast journalism because television has a broader reach, she says.

Phadnis is also interested in combining this with her other interest, international affairs, sparked after a field trip to the United Nations with her schools human rights club.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour must be getting hot under the collar now...

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