Ryan Sas, 17, a senior at Sandy Creek High School, joined outstanding high school students from across the United States during the week of October 16-21 to take part in a unique career development program in our nation’s capital. During the six-day program, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security (NYLF/NS): Exploring American Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense will introduce students to the challenging careers in national security, intelligence, the diplomatic corps and more.

“Imagine being 16 or 17 years old and the responsibility of securing the United States at home and abroad rests on your shoulders. Through specialized simulations, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security strives to put students in the driver’s seat of building a strategy that will uphold our national security,” said Donna Snyder, executive director of NYLF. “The combination of interacting with professionals and with other students in this setting ensures that leaders are being developed so the future of our country will remain very bright.”

The curriculum for the Forum on National Security is based on actual world events. Throughout the program, students use critical thinking, leadership and public speaking skills to tackle the complexity of national decision-making as they examine how the U.S. plans for peace and prepares for crisis. They employ a crisis decision-making process similar to that employed by the nation's top policy makers.

Students also participate in thought-provoking question and answer sessions with highly respected, internationally recognized civilian policy makers and senior military. In addition, leading institutions open their doors to NYLF/NS students, where they are educated in diplomacy, international affairs and military strategy. Past programs have included visits to several government institutions and military installations, such as the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Naval Academy, a variety of embassies and many others.

Founded in 1992, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) is an educational organization established to help prepare extraordinary young people for their professional careers. Forums are offered in 11 cities across the United States in a wide variety of career fields, such as national security, law and medicine. Over 50,000 young people have attended NYLF programs. For additional information, visit us at www.nylf.org.

Sas is a member of Sandy Creek’s Model United Nations team and holds a black belt in karate. After school he teaches karate and gymnastics at Gym South in Fayetteville. Sas is the son of Marty and Kate Sas.

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