Hey! My name is Yvonne, and I am a rising senior at Granby High School. I have been a part of Y Street for two years now! At the end of the school year, I applied to be a part of the Y Street Leadership Team and, to my surprise, I was accepted! Usually, the staff on the team would get existing and new members of the Leadership Team together in Richmond to host a Summit. While in Richmond, there would be many interactive activities to prepare for the upcoming school year, including meeting with our local representatives, and (most importantly) getting to know everyone on the Leadership Team. However, this year the Y Street Leadership Team Summit was a little different. Because of the times we are in, having an in-person summit was not an option. So, we took advantage of Zoom, making this year the first-ever virtual summit. During the Summit week, we participated in various fun activities and talked in-depth about Y Street’s Share The Air and Rev Your Bev campaigns. We also used that time to talk about the expectations we have as leaders in Y Street. Each night during the summit week, we also joined social activities.

During this time, there was no talk about anything related to Y Street. This was the time we used to play games and get to know each other since we could not meet in-person. We played online group games, including my favorite, the virtual escape room!  Along with getting to know each other through the presented social activities, we also had ZOOMmates. If this summit were to be held in Richmond, each of us would be assigned a roommate, but since that could not happen, we had a ZOOMmate.

Each night, there was an activity that allowed us to talk with and learn about our ZOOMmate to get a deeper understanding of who they were. 
 
This Virtual Summit was more than I expected it to be. The staff at Y Street made this a memorable experience. I met a lot of ambitious, intelligent young people and also made a couple of new friends. Of course, it would have been nice to see everyone in person, but we had to make the best of it. Y Street Leadership Team is truly a fantastic opportunity to meet like minded people who want to make Virginia healthier.  To learn more about Y Street and the Leadership Team, visit YStreet.org.