On September 22, 2022, I attended the orientation session for Leadership Manhattan Beach (LMB) 2023. I walked into a room of 20 "strangers;" by the end of the day, I had shared some one on one or small group time with each new classmate. A couple stood out in my mind; I still can visualize Taylor Ryan (one of the four amazing Mira Costa HS students participating in the program) standing on a table to bring home a point to promote our team. We also participated in something akin to SPEED DATING where we had a couple of minutes with each class member. I discovered that Heather Fielding and I had experienced very parallel, yet different professional lives. Those connections grew throughout the year.

Joining LMB was a leap of faith for me, having arrived in Manhattan Beach a scant 4 months earlier, knowing no one outside of my immediate family. My "purpose" became knowing who was who and what was going on in Manhattan Beach. A chance meeting with Kathleen Terry at Joslyn Center led to my decision to apply to LMB which would help familiarize me with the people and entities that make up my new hometown.

On June 8th, Taylor, Heather and I graduated with LMB's class of 2023. We take with us friendships that include and go beyond "touching base" phone calls and solidarity in life celebrations and disappointments. I have gone from a roomful of people with name tags to feeling that I am a part of our community.

I applied to the Leadership Manhattan Beach program because I have friends that are alumni and they highly recommended the program. I wanted to learn something new. Does it require time and dedication? Yes. Do you have to be ACTIVELY involved and participate? Yes. Will you learn how a city works? Yes. Ironically, I joined LMB to simply learn something new. I got so much more out of the program than I ever could have imagined. Our class of 2023 was the first in-person class since the COVID 19 Pandemic. Not only was my mind opened up to learning about how the city works, but I also reconnected to my community, to other people and to myself. I learned how I can be a more intricate part of my community. 

I met amazing people in my class, such as Carol and Taylor, that will be lifelong friends. Was it challenging at times for me? Yes. My best analogy is: Sometimes, life is like an orange. It squeezes you and it may be uncomfortable. However, that is when the sweetest juice comes out. Our Leadership Manhattan Beach class was very diverse. We had many generations, ethnicities and leadership styles represented based on people's careers and backgrounds. For example, Taylor, being a junior at Mira Costa High School had to have exceptional time management skills in order to balance the LMB program, her exams and college applications. Taylor has been awarded The Outstanding Leadership Manhattan Beach Student Award.

In closing, Carol, Taylor and Heather are grateful to everyone in our class and everyone that makes the LMB Program happen.