On February 11th 2021, I participated in a Youth RoundTable Discussion, organised by UTO Edu Consult in partnership with the British Council. This was the last segment of a 3 day ‘RAISE Conference’, which actually had this youth roundtable as one of the closing events. I was one of the four panelists, being the youngest by a significant margin as all others speaking were at least in their mid 20s! It was challenging but extremely enjoyable to discuss with people older than me, as I was able to test my knowledge and communication skills. The topics discussed were mental health, peer pressure, building confidence and self esteem, the role of the youth in meeting our SDG’s, and environmental awareness. It concluded with audience questions. Clearly it was an eclectic discussion, but it gained a lot of momentum and there was a large audience interested in what was said and discussed. To prepare for it I took notes on things I would want to address for each topic, but once the panel began, it was much more improv based, as we were all engaging with one another and asking questions as we went. As I have never debated before, it was great to see how my public speaking skills would fare, and I was quite proud at the end! Some example questions included discussion on how my school is working towards the SDG’s, and I felt a prime example of our engagement with global issues is our comprehensive service program. I had the opportunity to speak on a platform of many things I felt passionate about, as well as network with really talented speakers and hold meaningful conversations.

This connects to LO6: Demonstrate Engagement with Issues of Global Significance because of the discussions of global issues and the use of a platform to raise awareness on them.