Wareham students prepare for leadership summit in China

Wareham High School Seniors Nicolas Dix and Ethan Osley will be packing their bags for China this February as they prepare to join a one-of-a-kind youth leadership summit in Beijing.

The two students were officially accepted to the Model G20 event on Nov. 9, each receiving a full scholarship of $2,500 from Knovva Academy.

The team of international teachers is one of many sponsors that helps to make the summit possible each year by offering financial aid to students.

In the past, Knovva Academy has supported travel to the global conference for eight of Wareham High School students.

“We’re very excited about the partnership our school has fostered with Knovva,” said Global Education Director Maureen Manning. “And we’re very proud of Nicolas and Ethan for all their hard work.”

The two students chose to apply to the leadership summit on their own after learning about the opportunity through the Global Education Club.

“I thought it seemed like a really cool idea,” said Dix. “It’s definitely something most people will never get to experience.”

Both Dix and Osley are extremely involved in their school’s community. Together, the two partake Wareham’s DECA program as well as Model U.N., Drama, National Honor Society and the National Organization for Women. Osely also serves as the class of 2019’s secretary while Dix is the class treasurer.

“It’s resume building,” Osley said. “But it’s also just a really good way to meet people.”

The summit Dix and Osley will attend in China consists of a 3-day educational program designed to enhance leadership skills through lectures, workshops and simulations. The topic of this year’s conference is “Smart Cities”.

“It’s all about how we can use smart technology to solve problems globally,” Dix said. “Which I admittedly don’t know much about, so I’m really excited to learn.”

As part of their application process, both students were required to submit essays about a global problem they want to solve. Osley wrote about climate change while Dix wrote about clean water shortages.

“I’m really excited to meet other students and talk about the issues they want to solve,” Osley said.

Dix echoed this sentiment, adding that he was excited to do some sightseeing in Beijing. 

Dix previously left the U.S. to visit Greece and Italy with Wareham’s Global Ed Department. For Osley, this will be his first time outside of the country.

“I think it’s going to be really awesome to see how different cultures work and interact,” Osley said. “I’m just in love with the fact that I can say I was apart of something like this.