The Youth Assembly is an annual gathering of hundreds of young people from around the world who seek practical ways to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, global networking and social entrepreneurship skills as well as meeting with and contributing to civil society formally affiliated with the United Nations. The Youth Assembly is about showing how one person can make a difference by engaging with the challenges of the present and being an educated and active citizen.
Last year, I came to the Youth Assembly at the United Nations with no agenda. I was hopeful, and inspired – but I did not know what to expect. It was humbling to be around young individuals, all equally inspirational, devoted, and accomplished, each wanting to make a big difference in the world. I look at this picture and I think, what have I done to get here? Amongst me are accomplished young individuals – and the one thing that I share with them is a passion to change the world.
Let us count the ways. The ever-so-powerful Angela Jhanji from the UK. I am convinced that she will be will be the next UK prime minister, if not, equally as powerful. An International Delegate for London for the Global Youth Parliament, at 19 years of age, and she is already reigning her end of the world. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere Micheal, the Youth Ambassador for Nigeria; Imo State. It was reported by BBC news that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria. Micheal held true to this nature. He was vocal about critical issues challenging our society today and conveyed this with a smile. The ever-so-brilliant Tessa Satherley from Australia, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar doing her studies on Physics, Political Science, Conflict Resolution, Middle Eastern Studies while living in the Middle East. The good-person always in the quest for gaining more knowledge, Haruka Tanabe from Japan, another Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar doing her studies on International Relations, Political Science, and International Law. A Model UN Delegate of Hungary, Kinga Katus, who is always diplomatic and truthful. The one who inspires, Miguel Toro Gutiérrez. Founder of "Inspire" who help inspire young men and women by giving them hope of becoming successful leaders in their respective communities around the world. Motivated young individual, Amy Brownstein from the US and at a young age, was globally aware. Farah Al-azab from Jordan, the ever-so-loving and strong woman who has a powerful mind of her own. The one who always stands out, Jillian Thomsen. At 16 years of age, already an advocate for the civil and human rights for young people in Australia, having already immersed herself in multiple leadership conferences. She was one of the most inspirational beings I have met by far. This list can go on endlessly, and I don’t even think that can do justice for the gratification that I have from meeting all the above.
When I was 11 years of age, I had a feeling that made me just know that I was destined to do something great. I had no desire to be famous nor did I know how I was going to do it, or even know what great thing I was going to do, but I wanted to do great things at a magnitude enough to save other lives, other than my own. At 11, this must have been quite difficult to succumb to, and indeed it was.
My teen years came and “my calling” wasn’t quite a great reflection in my life. I was a true rebel – without a cause at times. Despite my rebellion, I was able to manage to become part of the student government. I was awkward like that, an academic failure and yet socially appealing. If you asked someone in high school, who would be the least likely to change the world, I confess, I would probably be in the top 10.
College came and I was no less immature than I was in high school, but I still had that passion-- the passion to change lives. With that passion, and the help of family and friends, I was able to produce a fundraising event which also included a concert. I was fortunate enough to meet with a man named Dabs from World Vision in the Philippines. Dabs was one of the aid workers from World Vision who dedicated his whole life to give education and a decent life to the thousands of Filipino children from extremely low-income families. If there was a man who was changing lives, it would be Dabs, God knows those families need him. He helped me arrange the week long fundraising event and brought amazing children with talent who weren’t able to support their own lives to my university in the Philippines, sure enough, the students who saw these kids sing were floored. All the proceeds went to World Vision, and after a week of events for World Vision, we were able to break the record of most sponsored children by a university in the Philippines. This wasn’t in our agenda, but, it’s what we made possible.
It was then when I realized, how much the power of one (with the help of family and friends) could make a difference. Four years ago, still wanting to make a difference in the world, that passion was channeled into environmental advocacy. Since then, I got myself immersed in conferences to further my knowledge on environmental awareness. In these conferences, I was able to meet amazing individuals from diverse professions, each contributing to sustainable development. I started a facebook group three years ago to be able to meet other people on the similar interests and learn from them. Initially, there were less than a hundred members in the first year to almost 3,500 members to this date. Only proving even more how critical people want to be involved in this critical issue—Global Warming & Climate Change. The hindsight I gained from these experiences is more than any education could ever pay for. When I do something with relation to my passion, I don’t question it, I just know that I have to do it (it's quite strange). It is due to these Global Youth Leaders that I met at the Youth Assembly in the UN that will enable me to pursue that passion even further. They are a reminder of the time that I had when I was 11 and thought that I would actually do something to change the world, they are already changing the world themselves.
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