NATCHEZ — A women’s leadership conference this summer proved to be the key to getting Brooke Wiley out of her shell.

The Trinity Episcopal Day School junior ventured to Starkville this summer for the first Women Empowered Leadership Conference, which brought 30 high school teenagers to the university’s campus for a weeklong, hands-on conference.

The 16-year-old admitted she was a bit nervous before the conference.

“I’m not really an outgoing person, so I thought I would be sitting in the back of the rooms the whole time, still learning, but not really talking to anybody,” Wiley said. “But when I got there, I realized that a lot of the girls had the same views that I had on things and everyone was just so nice.”

The WE Lead conference was created by a Mississippi State student and intended to encourage young women to pursue higher education in various fields, expand into the business sector and to aspire to be the nation’s next political leaders.

Wiley traveled to the Shackouls Honors College July 14-18 to participate in a variety of team building tactics and listen to guest speakers from across the South.

Wiley said she applied to attend the conference after her school’s guidance counselor found out about the conference. Wiley was later chosen from applicants across the state to attend.

“I’ve always sort of felt that women should be in more leaderships roles throughout our country, but I’ve not had many people around here to talk about that stuff with,” Wiley said. “I thought this would be a good chance to meet other people my age who felt the same way I do.”

Part of the application process required Wiley to submit an essay on where she thought the need was for more women leaders.

Wiley said the two most important places were the White House and the military.

“I think we need a woman president, because it would open up so many doors and would send a strong message to other countries who exclude women from leadership opportunities,” Wiley said. “The military is another place I think having more women in is important.

“I think that would make women feel more comfortable with serving in the military.”

To Wiley’s initial surprise, the Vidalia resident wasn’t the only one at the conference with that vantage point.

“Sometimes I don’t get along with people because I am so committed to my viewpoints, but everyone there was on the same wavelength as me,” Wiley said. “It was great.”

Wiley said her other favorite part of the trip was hearing from the various guest speakers, such as Jennifer Gregory, the chief executive officer of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.

Wiley said hearing from Gregory and the other guest speakers gave her hope for future of women in leadership roles in various businesses and organizations.

“These are all leaders in their businesses or community, and that was good to see,” Wiley said. “I learned a lot.”

Wiley is the daughter of Dalton and Kristine Wiley of Vidalia.