Leah Bonsall

I don't even want to think of what my life would have been like without iBELIEVE. It has completely shaped who I have become as a person. In fact, my experience with iBELIEVE is what I wrote my college essays on and the main reason I have found the confidence to take advantage the incredible opportunities that have come my way.

When I started my journey with iB I was a very shy and insecure kid living in a community I didn't know how to belong in. I was the "new kid" in a town where everyone knows everyone and nobody ever seems to leave. I felt out of place and constantly on edge. I was too quick to judge people and never took the time to get to know anyone. I was lonely and miserable. I didn't think there was anything I could do about it.

My mom drove me up to my first summer workshop at West Liberty University in 2015. My perspective changed that summer. My life changed that summer. I continued to come back and five summers later I am still coming back!

My time with iBELIEVE continues to show me that it is okay to connect with people, to show others you care and to chase after your dreams. Today, I am more confident than I ever thought I could be. Through iBELIEVE, I have found the most supportive network of people who are there for me anytime I feel my own magic falter. My experience with iBELIEVE has guaranteed that my future will be bright, exciting and impactful. Why? Because iBELIEVE has proven to me time and time again that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to and that I will have the most amazing people on my team cheering me on the whole way. I am most grateful for iBELIEVE because it didn't turn me into somebody new or mold me into the perfect person. The people I met and the experiences I had at iBELIEVE showed me that I was already enough. There is nothing in the world more powerful than that.