I spent the last four days hanging out with 122 remarkable teenagers and I'm so pumped, I feel like a teenager myself. Roughly half of these teens were from Vancouver Island and the other half from Washington State. We were attending the Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly (RYLA) at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

I'm writing this to acknowledge both the students who attended this year - They proved once again that today's teenagers are absolutely awesome -- and the Rotarians who for the past 37 years have organized this amazing, life-changing event.

I'm also writing to encourage student in grades 10 and 11 to find out more about RYLA and to be sure to apply next year. Talk to your school councillors or go to www.rylanw.org. When you do you will discover that the program, including transportation, is absolutely FREE.

RYLA is an empowering program of self-discovery featuring renowned speakers who emphasize leadership, motivation and communication skills. There's also lots of time for recreation and fellowship.

One of the Rotarians who has driven students to and from this event for the past five years told me that the van would be very quiet on the way home.

"All of your students will be asleep within half an hour of leaving here," he told me. "They spend a lot of energy in these four days."

My kids were different, wonderfully different. They never stopped talking, talking about how they could apply what they had learned at the conference when they got home.

When I told them about my Rotary trips to Zimbabwe and how we had taken Sihlengeni Secondary School from the worst in its school district to one of the best in the country, they got excited. And then when I told them how our Nanaimo Rotary Clubs are continuing to pay school fees and provide food for the AIDS orphans in the school, they really came alive. They had found their international cause.

Sparks began to fly as ideas buzzed around the van and the final conclusion seemed to be that they want to find ways to support both the orphans and the school. Someone suggested raising money for the school to buy proper blackboards, something that would make a huge difference for the students there.

When we arrived at Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, we met up with a vanload of Victoria students returning from the conference. Soon our students began talking to them about Zimbabwe and now those students are fired up. They want me to go down to present our Sihlengeni School PowerPoint presentation. No doubt they will be getting involved as well.

Can you imagine the power of students here on Vancouver Island communicating with and supporting students in Zimbabwe? What a huge difference they could make for Zimbabwe and for themselves.

RYLA, however, is not about organizing huge project like this; it's mainly about self-empowerment.

Here are just some of the comments I heard: I learned to be boldly enthusiastic; RYLA is life-changing; RYLA turns border-line leaders into powerful leaders; I learned to appreciate all the small things like our education system and clean drinking water, things I took for granted before; It helps you erase your fears and inhibitions as you throw yourself into this mix of amazing people; I have a different view of what I want to do with my life; I learned that small things can make a big difference; I gained the confidence to speak in front of groups of people and I have a much more positive attitude about everything now.

Finally all of the students in my van committed to writing the following RYLA mantra on their bathroom mirrors.

"Never settle for average."

Can you think of a better message to see every morning as you brush your teeth?