Colour Outside the Lines: that was the theme of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools Leadership conference that the future Head Girl and Head Boy of Saltus Grammar School, Kalaina Johnson and Eoin McMahon, attended in Calgary, Canada in April this year.

Right from the start we felt we had that theme figured out, what could be more 'colouring outside the lines' than a Bermudian school represented at a Canadian conference? But, it turned out to be a lot more.

We learned styles of leadership; we learnt of the trouble with a group of leaderless people all with their own ideas trying to reach the same goal in an attempt to pop a balloon two metres away using only a human push and materials like dominos, duct tape, rubber balls and funnels.

We also learned the importance of finding new and exciting ways to communicate. All of this constantly surprised us with new ideas or even just a new take on an old idea, but most of all, we learnt of the importance of innovation and originality in being a good leader. There was an important sub-theme at the conference as well, which was not so much a lesson about how to lead but, how to live as a leader.

With events ranging from "Pod Projects", aimed at creating a service project that all could take back to their respective schools, to actual service opportunities such as cleaning the local retirement home, making sandwiches for the homeless or even just picking up trash, there was one lesson that the conference constantly hit home: that all leaders must lead by example and do what they can to help the community.

We heard a speaker who told us of a time when his bid to climb Everest was interrupted by the discovery of a man close to death sitting on a ridge near the top. He wanted nothing so badly as to reach the top, but he knew that at that moment he had power and two choices: to be selfish and leave the man to die (as he almost certainly would considering it was almost impossible to get him down unless he walked), or to stay with him and, if nothing else, comfort him while he still lived. He stayed and the man lived, and that, the speaker told us, was more important than any summit could be. This, to us, exemplified the whole idea of the importance of giving back and helping those around you. It had taken the speaker his entire life to learn the importance of helping those around you. We were getting the opportunity to learn it as young as we are and even to put it into practice as student leaders.

We learnt a lot at the CAIS 2010 leadership conference and met a lot of interesting people too. Its lessons of the importance of giving back and the power that we as students actually have will define the ways we proceed as student leaders. Maybe we'll even have the opportunity to put some of those "Pod Projects" into action! Whatever we do, though, it's certainly going to exemplify the theme Colour Outside the Lines.