MARYSVILLE If only J. Edgar Hoover had a smile like Sarah Wennerstens.
The local teen got an inside look at the Federal Bureau of Investigations earlier this summer when she was selected to represent Washington state at the agencys Tenth Annual Youth Leadership program.
One of 50 adolescents selected from around the country, Wennersten lived and studied at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., where she got to learn about leadership and law enforcement. It was a huge boost to the Grace Academy sophomore, who is the daughter of a Marysville police officer, Kit Wennersten.
The trip included visiting the sights of nearby Washington, D.C., and cavorting with her peers, but with a 5:30 a.m. waking time with exercises 15 minutes later, it was more than a working vacation. Each day featured six hours of academic instruction, including intensive two-hour and four-hour classes. Generally the delegates, as they were called, didnt get to bed until 9:30 p.m. after a full day of studying. They received 62 hours of classroom instruction, with more book work afterward each night.
One class focused on juvenile violence in America and Wennersten said it really opened her eyes. The curriculum gave students lessons on spotting and stopping potential violence before it erupts.
It taught me to watchful of the warning signs of someone who is on the edge of bursting, Wennersten said at a conference in Renton last week, where she and another delegate recalled their experiences.
Another class she liked focused on setting goals, but the meat of the courses were giving the kids tips on becoming better leaders. Criticize in private and you let people save face while they learn, praise in public and you build them up was one anecdote. Other classes included overviews of different cultures, ideologies religions, and how to effectively communicate ideas.
One of the big lessons she learned is the ability to lead by influencing people instead of just barking orders at them, Wennersten said. Its also possible to influence those above you on the command chain, but every future leader must learn to follow orders before they can give them.
When you can be an influencer, you can be someone who helps the leader or is just influential in how he or she chooses to lead, Wennersten explained. Just suggesting when you need to, and submitting is a big thing.
Wennersten was nominated for the academy program by Snohomish County Sheriffs bureau chief Tom Greene, who knows her and her father from attending the same church. He said it was a pleasure to list her for the honor, because she is unlike many teens these days who are lost in their own worlds and dont have any ambition or seem to know where they are going, he said.
Then you bump into a young person like Sarah Wennersten and you realize that she will be a future community leader, Greene said. If we can guarantee that there will be a bunch of Sarah Wennerstens around we will be OK.
She was exactly the right age and grade level for the leadership summit, which includes a few representatives from other countries as well as the United States, according to Greene, who said Wennersten is one of those kids who mature early.
Shes just a really a class act. She has so much potential, Greene said. She seems to be solidly grounded in values that are so American. She knows where shes going. Shes confident but not cocky.
The Marysville native plans to follow in her fathers footsteps by working in law enforcement at the local level, hopefully becoming a detective.
Ive always looked up to him, being a police officer, she said. I need an active job, I cant do a sit-down job.