In my last blog I mentioned a trip to Atlanta. Well, I finally got to go and I loved it! The convention that I attended offered a lot of leadership education and I really think I learned some skills that I will be able to use for the rest of my life. I also loved the city of Atlanta. I could see myself living there some day.

One of the things I find most interesting about traveling to large cities is how each city seems to have their own personality. For example, I found Atlanta to be a very calm relaxed city. Other cities I’ve visited have been busy and full of frantic people rushing to their next destination like it was going to before they got there. I prefer the calm and relaxed atmosphere myself.

That atmosphere was perfect for attending a convention. Much like most other conventions, most of my time there was spent in meetings and presentations which can be burdensome enough already. Add the constant rush and pressure of being places on time and finishing on time and you’ll find a lot of unneeded stress. That wasn’t the case with this trip.

Instead, I got a lot of time to network with various people and learn what other student leaders do to solve common problems. I also got to listen to some pretty cool presenters speak – like the former mayor of Atlanta and one of the first people to invest in the internet to help launch it after it was created.

Another valuable lesson I learned on that trip was to never count on travel plans to go right. After three delayed flights and one canceled flight, my trip ended. These four flights were all of the flights that I booked for the trip. I guess I can’t really complain because flying sure does beat the driving alternative.

The end of that trip also signified the end of summer. I do have to say I am more than ready for all of my Gannon friends to return to Erie, and I’ll even go as far as saying that I’m excited for school to start. I miss having a consistent day to day schedule. It will be nice to get back into the routine of things and back to learning new things every day.

I hope that everyone enjoys the remainder of summer!

Tyler