By Farjana Shati:

Baked goods and GEM reports for all

It was a sunny mid-spring morning on Tuesday, April 24^th as I geared up for our first open table event of the semester; my signature project as the 2018 CYA. I was very excited and anxious to meet students and engage in conversations and share ideas on UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda, and issues on global education. As I was sitting in my Arabic class that morning, learning new vocabulary and listening to new sounds and words, my mind was wandering to the ground floor of the Atrium building thinking about the infinite possibilities that could arise during the event in the afternoon. Part of my Signature Project is to interview City Tech students on issues related to the SDGs and gender equality, As I sat through that Arabic class, I kept wondering whether my fellow students will be willing enough to do an interview or agree to be filmed, let alone, share their ideas and thoughts on the global issues I am proposing. The afternoon came quickly and to my pleasant surprise, I was overwhelmed to see many students and professors interested, excited, and very supportive of our initiative. My Open Table event only lasted a short hour, but the response I received from the City Tech community could have been spread out over an entire day!

I was not surprised to hear that most of students were not aware of the UN SDGs or UNESCO’s efforts towards SDG 4: Quality Education. However, the professors I had interacted with were aware about the UN SDGs, which was very encouraging! When I asked students about their views on quality education, it was fascinating to hear their different perspectives. Most of them expressed that quality education should be “affordable”, “easy to excess”, “equitable”, and “inclusive”. Others mentioned that it should be “enjoyable”, “up to date on modern curriculum”, and “sustainable through our life span”. There was no doubt that the group felt that education is beyond a basic human rights. Much of what was shared by my fellow students echoes the global perception on this issue.

My fellow students also contemplated whether our institution was providing quality education and expressed their beliefs on the role that each of us can play in achieving it. One fellow students shared that “we are the future of the nation and we need to start playing roles right now.” Another student shared that the main motivation to get involved is because “youth who form the next generation are the most affected by the consequences if quality education is not attained” – that response resonated profoundly with me! Professor Urmi Gosh-Dastidar from the math department shared that youth are “open minded people” who “bring fresh ideas”. I kept thinking how our active participation in quality education is crucial to bring peace and unity in the world as education is the key for a peaceful world.

Students also reflected on gender equality, a topic that was of concern to many. Interestingly, one student mentioned, “we have not been able to achieve gender equality yet as there is still pay disparity around the world.” Students believed that we need to raise awareness that gender diversity “is an issue” and then educate “students to not label others”, to see the “strengths and uniqueness of each gender”, and to realize “that both genders are needed “to build a sense of community.” Most importantly, students mentioned the need for role models, especially, STEM female role models. One student wished to have more gender diversity in his Computer Science field as female colleagues were a rarity.

I wrapped up our first event feeling fully energized and inspired by all the interactions. Soon enough I had to bury myself with coursework specifically in prep for the Calculus III exam. As I was writing this blog it struck me that within less than a month I will be graduating with my bachelor’s degree and my term as the first CUNY Youth Ambassador will come to an end. I hope I can squeeze in another Open Table event before the summer rolls in and I move on to my next career phase!

Thank you to all the students and faculty who stopped by our table event to learn about our program and share their thoughts about global education! We were so excited to see how enthusiastic and supportive everyone was. We plan to do it again, so watch for more dates to come!

• Also, be sure to stop by Ecofest tomorrow from 9-6 pm on the ground floor of the Atrium building. We’ll see you there.

Please join us today at City Tech from 1-2 pm in front of the Welcome Center (Atrium building, first floor) to learn about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. Specifically, let’s talk about goal 4, Quality Education for all, and what it means to you and how you can get involved in helping to achieve this global goal. We’ll be filming and sharing ideas and refreshments. Come have a snack and chat with us!

By Farjana Shati:

The bitter cold weather seems to be never ending as the semester is progressing. Just as I am eagerly waiting for spring warmth, mild weather and flowers, I cannot wait to finish my midterm exams, especially my Arabic exam. I am a fulltime student after all and my studies are among my top priorities and they occupy most of my time. Along with prepping for the midterms, I have been reflecting on interactions and conversations with my fellow City Tech students regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as I gear up towards my signature project as the CUNY Youth Ambassador (CYA).

Few weeks ago, in my environmental economics class (ECON 2505ID),I asked my fellow classmates if any of them had heard or was aware of the UN or UNESCO. To my surprise, only 15% of the students mentioned that they had heard of the UN and only one students had previously heard of the name UNESCO. I am certain that if I had pushed on and asked about the specifics of their knowledge about these global agencies, I would have been even more surprised! In this class, we are learning about environmental and food sustainability, yet, none of my fellow classmates knew anything about the UN’s SDGs or the 2030 agenda! My econ professor gave me the opportunity to briefly promote the campaign run by UNESCO to call on governments to make the right to education enforceable in national law in all countries. I was very excited to bring forward to my class the possibility to put the coursework and curriculum into a relevant and current global context, and to invite them to become actively involved in sustainability issues and quality education. I was able to persuade 20% of the students to sign the online petition. Of course, I wanted to have a 100% success rate, but, it was a good start, and it made me think about more creative ways to advocate what I believe is crucial and essential for a better future.

As I continued to interact with my friends, classmates, and other students on campus to promote the campaign to sign the online petition, I unfortunately discovered that the majority were unable to mention anything about the SDGs. The blank stares from my fellow peers when asked about the UN, UNESCO or SDGs was playing on repeat in my mind as I continued to develop and plan my signature project as CYA. When I was thinking of ways to raise awareness among the student body at City Tech on issues on quality education, gender equality and UN SDGs, I knew that my campus was a lush field! Many of us have never had the chance to think on a global scale and explore issues on sustainable development at the level that encloses governments, the private sector, the public sector, universities and individuals all together – something that the 2030 agenda challenges by its ambitious SDGs and its 15-year delivery timeframe. I have high hopes for my signature project. I want to have deep conversations with students during my video project and open table events on these issues. Ultimately, to advocate involvement and commitment from them. It is crucial that we students get more involved on our campuses and in our societies to bring change for ourselves and for the world we live in.

What would the world look like if we can harvest the energy and passion from our youth and pour it into goals like quality education and sustainable development? I can only imagine, but I am thrilled that I can be an active player in trying to explore the answers to this powerful question!

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!

Prof. Bonanome program co-director, Priya Joshi UNESCO GEM Representative, Farjana Shati CUNY Youth Ambassador and Prof. ElHitti program co-director

It was our pleasure to the launch this exciting educational partnership between CUNY and UNESCO in the presence of City Tech’s Provost August, Associate Provost Brown and several City Tech students and supporters on Friday, Feb 16. The core of this partnership is the collective potential of CUNY’s student body. CUNY faculty, students and alumni have repeatedly shown what can be achieved when given access to quality education. As we took the first steps together into the global arena on sustainable development and quality education, we were full of hope and excitement.

This program is unique as it aims to build an understanding within the CUNY student and faculty population of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In doing so, we hope to seed a movement of informed youth advocates active in local, national and international education spaces.

We were privileged and grateful to have Priya Joshi, a Research Officer at the Global Education Monitoring Report team at UNESCO in Paris present on the progress being made toward the UN Sustainable Development Goal – SDG4 Quality Education for All. Dr. Joshi is from Nepal and has a PhD in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She initiated and co-designed a global award winning mobile library project in Nepal. Her career trajectory and research have circled around how education and lifelong learning can be mobilized to support the broader ambitious agenda on sustainable development.

Following Dr. Joshi’s presentation was a Q & A with the CUNY Youth Ambassador Farjana Shati. You can find video clips of the three main questions here: 1, 2 and 3.

Priya Joshi UNESCO GEM Representative and Farjana Shati CUNY Youth Ambassador during Q & A

Professor Marianna Bonanome and Professor Samar ElHitti

From Farjana Shati the CUNY Youth Ambassador:

I was inspired at an even higher level on my second day participating at the YA. I was able to interact, engage, and listen to more youth delegates today. The atmosphere and vibe in the conference rooms was highly motivational. I reached the YA on time before Ms. Priya Joshi’s first session. (Priya Joshi is a member of the Global Education Monitoring, GEM, team.) This particular session I felt was especially empowering due to the two youth advocates’ panel session. The first panelist was a youth observer of 2017-2018 United Nation Association (UNA) in the USA. She is an undergraduate student and represents youth voices in the UNA-USA. I found her to be a role model for me and many young women.

I also attended the Campus Ambassadors Orientation & Panel (Session I). In this session, there were panelist from around the world. They spoke about their journey being the Campus Ambassadors and how they brought youth delegates from all round the world to participate in the youth assembly. I think this is something we can possibly implement at City Tech in years to come

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Priya Joshi, UNESCO GEM Representative and Farjana Shati, CUNY Youth Ambassador at the UN Winter Youth Assembly February 15, 2018

From Farjana Shati the CUNY Youth Ambassador:

By Farjana Shati:

In my fourth year as a Math Education major student at City Tech, I was looking forward towards the semester Winter Break. Nevertheless in December 2017, I was juggling between my high school student teaching placements and creating an honors research poster for a presentation. Next thing I know, I found myself interviewing for the 2018 CUNY Youth Ambassador (CYA) Position!

Reading the word “Ambassador” in the email heading made me feel unsteady. At first, I was not quite sure what this position would require of me. Yet I drew courage from the national conferences I had already participated in and was intrigued about the possibility to go to the UN headquarters in New York to attend the 2018 Winter Youth Assembly in February.

In preparation for my interview, I was asked by the program directors Prof. ElHitti and Prof. Bonanome to read an article they had published in Pass Blue earlier that year. The article in essence invited both the UN and CUNY to collaborate – especially on SDG4 (the UN Sustainable Development Goal, Quality Education for All.)  As I write this post, I now find myself comfortable with the acronyms “SDG,” SDG4,” “2030 Agenda,” etc. However just a month ago, as I went through the article for the first time, I felt bombarded by these unfamiliar phrases and terms. I then realized that I was up for a role which would challenge my academic horizons. It made me both excited and terrified!

The interview was eye opening and inspiring. I left it feeling good at heart thinking that an initiative to promote quality education by aligning with the UN’s vision is happening at City Tech. With this initiative CUNY students like myself who may not have had the opportunity to participate in education issues at the global level, can now have a platform from which to do so.

The day finally arrived when I received the confirmation email on being chosen as the CUNY Youth Ambassador. I became more nervous and anxious than I was for the interview in view of the enormous responsibility of the role. I consulted with every possible person I met that weekend starting with my parents, siblings, and cousins before committing to this prominent position. My community was drawn to the opportunity to work with the UN, and I was drawn to the possibility of realizing a lifelong dream I had to make a difference in people’s education and to the novel experience that lay ahead. I felt scared due to the expectations I will have to meet but at the same time I knew that being part of this program will allow me to give back to the City Tech community and will add to the opportunities for my fellow City Tech students, current and future, to grow beyond their academic skills and get prepared for a global workforce.

As the weekend drew to an end, and my mind was set up on accepting the role, I signed the agreement letter, drafted my bio, composed my acceptance email and courageously hit send. I woke up Monday morning, at the dawn of 2018, to start a new week, like I had done many times before, yet what was different now was that I was the CUNY Youth Ambassador and I was about to start on this new and exciting chapter of my life, along with the New Year!