It has already been 3 months since the successful 6^th annual Youth Leadership Conference! Students from as far as Illinois came, and everyone had a great time. The learning opportunities, social interactions, and real life simulations provided an exciting and stimulating environment. We learned so much from the various speakers who presented their experiences with hepatitis B and of course, the outreach projects. As a new participant just beginning to learn about HBV, I was amazed by the stories and the facts surrounding the silent killer. How could a disease that affects one in ten Asians be ignored? After four stimulating days, I went back to school and began to tell my Asian friends about hepatitis B. When I asked them if they were vaccinated, they in turn asked me, “What’s HBV?” As demonstrated by this general lack of awareness, we need to spread the news about HBV, and the 6^th annual YLC has helped further this goal by training a fresh generation of Team HBV to help eradicate this disease!

The knowledge gained from YLC was definitely memorable, but so were all the fun times with friends at the conference. We met so many amazing people and the scavenger hunt, games, and the dance were a blast! The energy and the enthusiasm of the team leaders-- and the assistant leaders -- really made the conference special. Thank you so much for sacrificing sleep to plan four unforgettable days!

            I hope every participant of YLC is mobilizing his or her community right now to help the fight the silent killer. Hey graduates of the 6^th annual Youth Leadership Conference,let’s help eradicateHepatitis B!