Emily Gruca attended the Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit in DC. Photo Submitted.
Emily Gruca, 14-year-old Ambridge High School freshman joined 2,500 teenagers from 30 countries to attend Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit in DC.
The summit happens every four years and is designed to empower next generation leaders as they continue on their journey toward realizing the power of their potential.
The summit happens every four years and is designed to empower next generation leaders as they continue on their journey toward realizing the power of their potential.
Gruca was originally nominated by her junior high school teacher, Anthony Amadio, to attend the Envision STEM Camp in the summer of 2016 at Loyola University in Chicago.
"Emily is a highly self-motivated individual that involved herself in her school activities while maintaining a high level of achievement" said Amadio. "I felt after my time with Emily in class and watching her participate in her extracurricular activities, that she was the type of young adult for this type of program."
Amadio added " I wanted to empower her to explore her interests and gain critical learning experiences beyond our classroom."
"The Presidential Inauguration only happens every four years, so being able to witness it was truly amazing" shared Gruca. "I also had the privilege to meet kids my age from all over the country, and I even made friends with a girl from New Zealand."
During the five day program, Summit scholars were given the opportunity to hear from subject matter experts and work together in small-group breakout delegations to generate solutions to 21st-century challenges that the next president and next generation leaders will face.
Gruca had to tackle one-of-six topics that were given; she choose would impact her most in their future. The final topics are in the areas of healthcare, technology, the environment, foreign relations, human capital and women in leadership.
"I learned more about current global issues, such as the lack of women’s leadership and the role it plays in world peace" shared Gruca. "This was something I found particularly interesting to learn about, since we aren’t normally made aware of issues like that in school. I also improved my public speaking skills, and I learned how to better communicate and collaborate with others."
Gruca's future goal is to graduate as valedictorian from Ambridge, enroll at Stanford, majoring in Astronomy. "Ever since the fourth grade, I have had a passion for trying to explain the origin of extraterrestrial objects and their evolution, as well as studying the planets, moons, stars, and other galaxies" added Gruca.
"I recognize, however, that my dream college and career are subject to change in the next four years. Until then, I plan on going to more camps that will broaden my knowledge of careers and interests."
"Emily is a highly self-motivated individual that involved herself in her school activities while maintaining a high level of achievement" said Amadio. "I felt after my time with Emily in class and watching her participate in her extracurricular activities, that she was the type of young adult for this type of program."
Amadio added " I wanted to empower her to explore her interests and gain critical learning experiences beyond our classroom."
"The Presidential Inauguration only happens every four years, so being able to witness it was truly amazing" shared Gruca. "I also had the privilege to meet kids my age from all over the country, and I even made friends with a girl from New Zealand."
During the five day program, Summit scholars were given the opportunity to hear from subject matter experts and work together in small-group breakout delegations to generate solutions to 21st-century challenges that the next president and next generation leaders will face.
Gruca had to tackle one-of-six topics that were given; she choose would impact her most in their future. The final topics are in the areas of healthcare, technology, the environment, foreign relations, human capital and women in leadership.
"I learned more about current global issues, such as the lack of women’s leadership and the role it plays in world peace" shared Gruca. "This was something I found particularly interesting to learn about, since we aren’t normally made aware of issues like that in school. I also improved my public speaking skills, and I learned how to better communicate and collaborate with others."
Gruca's future goal is to graduate as valedictorian from Ambridge, enroll at Stanford, majoring in Astronomy. "Ever since the fourth grade, I have had a passion for trying to explain the origin of extraterrestrial objects and their evolution, as well as studying the planets, moons, stars, and other galaxies" added Gruca.
"I recognize, however, that my dream college and career are subject to change in the next four years. Until then, I plan on going to more camps that will broaden my knowledge of careers and interests."
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