Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership in South Dakota

Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership or HOBY for short is a leadership camp held at DSU in June. Kids, now called Ambassadors, from all around the state come to DSU to learn about leadership while doing a few other activities. The HOBY Ambassadors even get to do a service project on the third day to show how much they have learned. 

HOBY spans four days of life changing experiences. There are speakers like Dusty Johnson and Melissa Johnson. There are also 3 different types of leadership taught by Madison native, Amy Shan. There are many different games played to build teamwork, which are put to the test as a service project like Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

“HOBY was a life changing experience for me as it showed me how many opportunities there really were to serve and help the community.” said Claire Stoller. Claire has gone back to HOBY for a few years. She was part of the media team her first year, junior operations the next, and finally became a Junior Facilitator. At HOBY, the Ambassadors are put into families of 8 to 10 people with a Junior Facilitator and a Facilitator. These families are meant to group the kids as well as make a bond between Ambassadors to help serve and make HOBY that much more memorable.