LEAD Denver 2020
Written by: Sophia Lapus
Going to Denver for LEAD School was one of my favorite experiences as a brother and I will forever hold a special place in my heart for all the bonding, laughs, and learning that weekend gave me. I had always heard the fun stories from when other brothers went to LEAD and I thought that it was the perfect time for me to go. Having been in the brotherhood for 3 years now, I still hadn’t really had the opportunity to meet brothers from different chapters, let alone different parts of the country. So, on a whim, I decided to go! I can confidently say that the people who I went with really made the weekend so memorable. Johann, Andrew, Gabe, and I left for the airport at 6 am since we had the first flight out to Denver! What was so great about our group was that all of us were from different pledge classes and hadn’t had the chance to really bond with each other after pledging.
Perhaps one of the funniest things that happened was that when we were packing, the weather forecast for Colorado was set to be freezing. So, like the tropical fish I am, I brought the biggest jacket I had only to realize that we weren’t going to even leave the hotel much during the weekend. We landed in Denver at around noon and were ravenous, running on only a few hours of sleep and the airport Starbucks. After checking into the hotel, we had a few hours before the first event of the evening and decided to go to a local mall and get some lunch. Stomachs full and ready for the weekend, we decided to do our first Target run and bought breakfast for the next few days. Naturally, we bought the breakfast of champions: Uncrustables, yogurt, coffee, and granola.
We made it back to the hotel and had to get ready for the motivational speaker, this is when the weekend started coming to life. In the room there are over 100 other brothers from all over the country and it was great to chat with them! The next day is when the real work began. The day was divided into 1 hour sessions running form Recruitment Bootcamp, Fundraising 101, Pledge Education, and so much more. The boys and I decided to divide and conquer so that we could attend as many sessions as possible. We took notes, asked questions, and got feedback from the other delegates. What I found the most valuable was the Recruitment Bootcamp as each chapter was able to talk about their individual recruitment practices and we were able to get new ideas, give our input to what other chapters do, and hear from Nationals on the new guidelines of the next school year. It was also really cool to meet our District Director and other people who we all had to know when we were pledging.
The weekend went by super quickly and before we knew it we were back at the San Jose Airport. Little did we know that it was probably the last LEAD or chapter outing we would have in a while due to COVID-19. Nonetheless, I am so happy that I was able to experience it with Johann, Andrew, and Gabe. Once this whole pandemic is over, I highly recommend every bother to attend at least one LEAD school because it is something that I will never forget.