Unexpected Summer: Leader Reaps Insights About Following

By Wendy S. Caldwell

Teen of the Week

WENDY S. CALDWELL

Katie Jordan already is an experienced leader. Lately, she has been focusing on becoming a disciplined follower.

As president of the Lampeter-Strasburg High School class of 2008, Jordan is accustomed to delegating. But this past summer, she spent much of her time listening to other leaders.

Of the summer programs in which she participated, Jordan said the most intense was the U.S. Naval Academy’s one-week summer seminar.

“I trained physically for three months beforehand, and I still didn’t feel prepared for it, especially the sea trials day, with the endurance courses in the woods and water,” she recalled. “We also had academic seminars and military training.”

Jordan lists the Naval Academy as her top college choice and hopes to receive an acceptance letter by the end of December.

“I want to go there because my dad hires employees who come out of the Naval Academy and he says they have such a great work ethic, and they are great leaders,” the teen said.

Jordan also learned this summer what it means to lead by following at the June Pennsylvania Rotary Youth Leadership Conference at Messiah College.

“It was interesting to see a bunch of people who are supposed to have leadership qualities work together, because who would be the follower?” the teen said. “We had to learn how to step back and listen to the others.”

Also this past summer, Jordan attended the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences at Carnegie Mellon.

“I loved Governor’s School because I met the most amazing people who have become my good friends.” Jordan recalled.

While the Navy is Jordan’s top choice, she also is considering the University of Pennsylvania or Yale. She ranks first in her class with a 4.7 grade-point average.

The National Honor Society inductee, who said her greatest academic strengths fall in the math and science disciplines, plans to major in engineering. She took five Advanced Placement classes in her junior year, and this year has included three A.P. courses on her course schedule.

Jordan is the captain of her high school Quiz Bowl team, which has won several tournaments already this season. She also is a member of the Junior Engineering Technical Society.

“We have a big (J.E.T.S.) competition in late February where we get eight sets of engineering problems to solve, and they are very difficult physics and chemistry problems,” Jordan explained.

In addition to her academic strengths, Jordan has been a four- year member of the school tennis team. She has also been a member of the high school’s swim club, and has worked at both the Willow Valley Resort and Strasburg Community Pools as a lifeguard.

Determined to be a positive role model, Jordan is a member of the Heroes program, for which she visits Willow Street Elementary School to discuss methods young students can use to battle peer pressure.

Jordan has contributed several articles to her school newspaper, The Limelight, and has volunteered with the Inter-Act service organization, serving dinner at the Water Street Rescue Mission.

The outgoing teen, who said she loves to travel, was a People-To- People student ambassador for three years, from eighth through tenth grades. Her excursions took her to Australia and New Zealand, the British Isles, and western Europe.

Jordan is the daughter of James and Connie Jordan and has a younger brother, Andrew. The family, including pet beagle, Sandy, lives in Willow Street.

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.