Elizabeth’s Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) summer experience
By: Elizabeth Alene
Leadership Enterprise for A Diverse America is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, originally founded in New York, that works to recruit 100 USA high school juniors (who have achieved a lot academically and have great potential), to go to a free–yes, free–summer institute at Princeton University to gain the college experience, and gain the skills they need to thrive in both high school and college, with like-minded individuals. They prepare to be further empowering and exceptional leaders, and LEDA helps increase the pipeline for students of all backgrounds to be represented in higher education at selective colleges and provides the resources they need to get there, and succeed overall. They can prepare their college applications by enhancing their writing skills, improving test scores through assistance with Advantage Testing, and strengthen their leadership skills through the Aspects of Leadership class. Each scholar has their own guidance counselor and writing instructor to work with them as they experience and live through the LEDA Summer Institute and throughout the fall of their senior year. They then gain a college success counselor after they matriculate into a university of their choice which helps them succeed in college and get ready for their career. It's a 6-year trajectory program that helps students both academically, professionally, and gives the socioemotional support that they need to thrive in both of these areas throughout the span of the program. This experience, coupled with being surrounded by like-minded and talented students from all across the USA at the Princeton University Summer Institute, is a transformational summer experience, marking one of the many highlights of virtually every LEDA scholar's summer–and even high school–experience.
As a Cohort 19 LEDA Scholar, I for one can say that this experience was very transformative, but not just in the ways, or original reasons I had in mind. I had originally thought it would just prepare me for college, and help me succeed academically, but I gained a network and community that I now long for. The experience made me more confident in my own voice and finding people who are like-minded to me and sticking with them. It made me learn how to be an adult, and see how transformational it is to be in spaces where I can speak my mind. This summer was probably the most fun and rewarding part of my high school experience, and I loved every minute of it.
Week 1: Adjustments & Adventures
The plane ride to LEDA was about a 2 ½ hour ride for me, and ironically, I was placed next to two other LEDA scholars from my state when I thought I would be alone. The plane ride was really fun and I remember us all being excited and talking about how cool it would be to step on to Princeton's campus. It was also our first flight alone, which made having someone next to us feel special.
The first week of my life at LEDA was quite an adjustment. It rains quite a lot in New Jersey, so packing up good clothing material and preparing for the rain was something I needed quite a bit in advance. The first week, I was introduced to a suite-style dorm life which I really liked. When I did most university summer programs, they typically had one bathroom per floor that was shared amongst hall-mates, but this part of the dorm was a plus. We also had AC which was really nice to have as a scholar. I was introduced to Princeton University as a campus, went to different shops and places to experience what life would be like as a college student, and I very quickly figured out that this life was expensive. I loved the campus though. Every part was really gorgeous to me, and I like the kind of campus that is urban/suburban, and I think Princeton really appealed to me because I like an urban/suburban style school.
LEDA staff walked us around campus to our classes for quite a few days so we didn't get lost which was nice, and the adventures we had to explore different buildings, the Princeton Campus tour, and the dining halls were very memorable, and these were some of the first times that I made my best friends there just by having meaningful conversations with them. However, it still took me a while to figure out my way around campus, so I always grabbed a friend before I headed out anywhere this week.
Week 2: All Classes + Nassau Street + College Tours
The second week is when the classes start to have more assignments, and the introduction phases are slowly starting to go and fade away. This is when each LEDA scholar begins to realize the tasks they have to complete and gets less and less sleep. But it has more and more fun and freedom. The classes we take are:
Aspects of Leadership: This course is designed for students to be prepared to be leaders in their communities, and ends with a community impact project that students complete within their own communities. LEDA checks up with scholars throughout the year to make sure they accomplish this goal, and they present their project proposal at the end of summer institute, receiving guidance from their instructor to perfect their project to meet their community's needs and be successful overall
College Guidance: This is the bulk of time that LEDA scholars spend from crafting a balanced college list, to learning about different colleges across the USA and building a good foundation to become successful in their senior year of high school. Each scholar has a college guidance counselor that they can go to to talk about college, which makes it extremely easier to plan out life for college and beyond in depth with an experienced professional who is willing to help scholars in achieving their goals.
Writing: The LEDA Writing curriculum is advanced and college level writing. The class prepares scholars for writing their college essays and supplements, making sure they can craft what best represents a successful personal statement. They work throughout the class navigating challenging topics and writing and discussing about them in small class sizes with talented writing instructors who teach the scholars methods to success.
Testing: Scholars at LEDA take a practice test for the ACT/SAT on Saturdays and have an ACT/SAT teacher that teaches them strategies and concepts they need to know to succeed on the actual standardized tests. Scholars also have to complete homework assignments for these classes to prepare for the practice tests they take at LEDA for free, and review their results the next week in their classes. This class is extremely beneficial and has helped many LEDA scholars bump their test scores and feel more confident about their test taking abilities.
The second week of LEDA, I was working on papers for my writing class, researching and taking notes on lots of colleges that I was interested in, doing some homework for my ACT class, and readings for my Aspects of Leadership class. My favorite class was my Writing Class--not only did I like the creative writing style we used in various assignments but I also With morning meetings and classes starting by 7-8 AM in the morning, I--alongside my roommate--had to sprint to get to breakfast each morning and then walk 10-15 minutes to our classes. My favorite was the pancakes and french toast. The dining hall had a lot to offer, so I typically enjoyed part of my morning. The walks on campus were also really beautiful and refreshing, but they could be long on some days. It motivated me, however, to wake up early so that I could walk with some friends from the dorm and go to breakfast prior to starting a long day. These were typically a really memorable part of my morning on a day to day basis and I made a lot of memories in the dining hall.
LEDA also organized a July 4th Field Day for LEDA scholars where we got to play games outside and have a catered meal in the dining hall in our dormitories. We only had one class (in comparison to 2-3) we typically have per day. It was really nice to be able to be with everyone for the first half of the day and play fun music, and get to know each other, and it definitely set the stone for the rest of my week.
One memorable moment is our college tour we had to PA. The day after July 4th we headed out to Pennsylvania where we toured Swarthmore and UPenn, both schools that are highly selective and interested me as soon as we made our way there. We took a bus ride there and explored the city's bookstores and campuses a bit, and got to speak with admissions officers which was my favorite part. I liked the idea of being able to tour UPenn's large campus and Swarthmore which is more remote at the same time, on the same day. I think that it made me understand why I like larger cities more, and I was able to see what I like about both colleges and colleges in general. It was a lot different than I had expected, but these tours were the ones everyone had mixed feelings about depending on what kind of location they found they liked best in a college. I found out how much I love big cities and would like to move to one for college, but some of my friends really liked the more quiet areas that are in between suburban and rural.
This day was definitely memorable because it was our first college tour and it seemed very fun and eventful--it took from 5 AM to 5 PM for us to drive there, go on the college visits and come back, which left me the other half of the day to work and explore Princeton even more.
Week 3: Writing! Testing! And.....more College Visits!
Week 3 was a lot of writing and testing for me. I wrote my personal statement and the early mornings started to get to me, but it made me very excited to know that I had Sundays to sleep in after the early test at 8:30 AM for the ACT practice and 9 AM classes throughout the week. I slowly started recognizing that I had to sleep a lot earlier if I wanted to get up for breakfast in the morning, but each time I headed downstairs of my dorm to get a drink of water, I would always start a conversation with a scholar and find that I didn't want to miss out on some of the adventures we would have. But, one way I made sure I could let myself relax was by signing out to go to Nassau for the food I needed to eat with friends, or throughout the weekends to get the snacks I need to thrive after dining halls close at 8 PM at the Wawa--a local convenience store. Since the dorm we stayed in had libraries we can go to after 6 PM, I often worked there until around midnight with friends, taking breaks to go to dinner, and eat snacks while doing our homework assignments and gaining assistance from the Resident Mentors. These were really fun times where I got to spend time with my friends but also focus on what I needed to complete for writing, and preparing for testing.
This week we also had a college visit to the DMV to visit Georgetown (DC) and Johns Hopkins University (MD) which was really nice. It was a day long trip and we didn't get home to our dorms until about 10 or 11 PM, and we started our day 5-6 AM, so it was a really long one. But I enjoyed both of the college tours and really liked the programs offered at both schools for medicine, and public policy which is where a lot of my interests lie, but it was also extremely hot this day which made the experience more challenging to enjoy on the personal end, but talking with the Admissions Representatives who knew we were LEDA Scholars and were willing to support us felt really nice as I navigated the college research process throughout the summer institute, and has been something I like to reflect on in the school year when I think about which schools I am going to apply to.
This day we stopped at a Plaza where we got to choose a food place we can eat at--fast food chains--which was really nice, because there were some foods we didn't have in the dining halls or Nassau Street that we wanted to eat, so it was nice to be able to do that, and it was always refreshing to leave campus one day in every couple of weeks to explore new selective colleges that can be on our list.
Week 4: Balanced College List!
Week 4 was all about crafting my balanced college list and getting serious on what colleges I was looking to apply to. Even though this was incredibly early, it was crucial for me to get a fundamental background on all of the colleges I wanted to apply to earlier on in the summer, to make more informed decisions in the fall, the college tours definitely help amplify my love for the colleges on my list and solidify my decisions, so that part of it gave me an extra reason to see how I could fit on the campuses we visited.
The word "balanced" is something LEDA uses a lot to ensure that scholars have a list of reaches, challenges, and likely, just to ensure that the colleges on our list are truly ones we want to apply to. The most stressful part was making sure I solidified my choices, especially after comparing some colleges to others to make sure I knew what kind of college I wanted to go to. It was not just the programs they offered and majors, but now also how the campus felt and if I truly felt like I could go there and succeed to the best of my abilities for four years.
This week, we also met with some admissions officers from a wide range of schools such as MIT, Tufts, and Caltech to learn more about the programs they offer in terms of career pathways through a panel and a catered lunch where we got to sit down and talk to them about our interests in their colleges and how we could plan to go that route or trajectory at their respective schools. I really liked this week because I got to hear insight from a lot of colleges and talk with admissions officers on what they are looking for if we wanted to go to fields of STEM, and how they view our applications for particular programs and/or majors holistically. This talk inspired me to learn more and also helped me take a look at colleges to research I hadn't considered previously, but now felt like we're colleges I really wanted to apply to because of the institution's amazing programming.
One of the activities I also enjoyed most from this week was the cultural dance night, which me and a few of my friends partook in. I remember staying late downstairs in the dorms and in the backyard of our dorms preparing our dance, and it came all together pretty well at the end. This was a moment I got to learn more about a lot of the different cultures that exist within LEDA through dances and performances, or even spoken word. It was also a moment where I gained more deeper bonds and connections with scholars. It is a moment I will never forget and will forever appreciate.
Week 5: Talent Show + Tears and Goodbyes/See You Laters
I didn’t even realize how much I loved LEDA and how much time had passed until I was going to pack up my things and leave – saying goodbye to my friends, and taking the plane ride home was painful. The most memorable moment before I left was the talent show that had happened with a fashion show event as well. Within this show there were dances, songs, stand-up comedy and magic shows by students and resident mentors, and a special surprise put together for us from LEDA staff. It was so much fun and the energy in the room was amazing--everyone knew we were going back home the next day or at least starting our journey home, and it was really nice to just spend our last nights at Summer Institute together having a great time.
I thought of how I would miss all of my friends and knew that the ones from New York, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Puerto Rico, Washington, and Colorado were going to be far away from me for a while. However, it was such a reflective experience overall and I learned a lot about myself, and a lot of habits that I should build to be a successful college student living independently and away from family for a while.
I remember literally shedding tears prior to leaving LEDA, as I was giving hugs and saying goodbye or see you later to everyone at the program, and it made me feel so bittersweet that I was leaving to go home. I also found it so heart filling that I was able to make so many friends that it made me not want to leave. In just five weeks, I felt like I had met some of the most inspiring people in my life, and felt so humbled to be surrounded by people who were genuinely kind and wanted to support me in achieving my successes as I do the same for them.
LEDA was --and still is--a surreal experience to think about, but it has only just started because it is LEDA for Life. I know that we will have multiple connecting opportunities and reunions in the future with Cohort 19, and the rest of the LEDA community, but the amount of memories I made and lessons I learned were more than I could imagine, and I am really grateful to be able to have the entire cohort 19 and LEDA family that I can communicate to, and keep in touch with throughout my senior year, college, career/work life, and beyond! This community has really just changed my perspective of the world and helped me gain a better vision of what I want to do in the future, and has made me excited about all upcoming milestones I have.
Overall, the LEDA experience is something I will never forget, and a lot of my friends I made from across the US are ones I am still very close to and chat with on at least a weekly basis. LEDA really made me get out of my comfort zone. I met new people, made new friends, gained new experiences, and a lot of networking skills as well. I don't think I would be the person I am today without LEDA, even though it's only been a few months since the Summer Institute occurred. At LEDA, we say LEDA for life, because it is truly a family, a community of support, guidance, kindness, and pure success.
LEDA's core values are Excellence, Integrity, Compassion, and Community. I can without doubt say that everyone I have met at LEDA embodies these values and cherishes making connections and being with people who challenge them and make them better individuals, not just academically, but socially and emotionally. Each scholar has a unique background and story that has led them to where they are today in life.
They have all made me a better person and made a lasting impact on my life. So, if you are eligible or even have the slightest tendency to want to apply, do it! You never know what can happen unless you try. Just be yourself on the application.
LEDA's program eligibility for the academic year 2023-24 are:
Junior attending a public high school in the U.S., graduating in 2025
U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, or have DACA Status
Cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.5 or above
Total annual household income of $90,000 or below
Please find out more about the Summer Institute on LEDA's website: https://ledascholars.org/our-program/leda-scholars-program/recruitment-admissions/apply/.
If you have specific questions you should reach out to recruitment@ledascholars.org.
Apply today!
Elizabeth Alene
Cohort 19 Leadership Enterprise for A Diverse America Scholar
Highland Park Senior High School | '24
