By Farjana Shati:
It has been almost three weeks since I have attended the United Nation 2018 Winter Youth Assembly at the UN headquarters in Manhattan, New York. As the weeks passed by, I found myself reflecting still on my jam-packed experiences at the Assembly. I still feel the excitement and uplifting and burning energy within me. I cherish the memories from my journey at the assembly and I have a feeling that I will keep coming back to those 3 February days for a long time!
What still resonates loudly today is meeting so many young delegates at once from all around the globe! I was most amazed that there were young delegates of all ages and the majority of the youth I had interacted with were high school students. Their stories inspired me and the impact they were already making towards a sustainable world was pleasantly shocking. At the same, I found myself then, as I do now, asking why communities are not doing more to build a sustainable future? I am also asking myself the same burning question!
Of course, reality is quick to hit! I am after all, a full-time student and as soon as 2018 Winter Youth Assembly ended, I was struck by my course work and academic responsibilities. I also ended up getting sick, like most New Yorkers this season, but pushed and motivated myself to finish my assignments, portfolio, and study for my Calculus III exam. I knew that my commitment to be the CUNY Youth Ambassador carried with it the expectation to to balance my school work and find ways to be a full-time student and a full-time Sustainable Development fan and advocate!
Which brings me to my signature project for 2018! My experience at the youth assembly has trigged many ideas to move forward with my project for the semester. I wanted to develop a project that will raise awareness and advocate involvement from the student body at my campus, City Tech. Initially, I was struggling to decide on what kind of activities I can facilitate to engage the student population on quality education and gender equality within the eight weeks remaining in the semester, but, my close work with the program directors Prof. ElHitti and Prof. Bonanome is shaping up my aspirations and I have started to take the first few steps in realizing my project, which I will write about in my next blog post. In the meantime, back to my Arabic homework, and to my flashbacks from the time I was actually at the General Assembly at the UN Headquarters!
