A Life-Changing Experience

A 4-hour drive, 19-hours of flying, and 45-minute bus ride later, I was sitting in a room with six other individuals whom were also seasoned delegates from the same Youth Leadership events from Boston and Argentina. This February break, I had the great privilege to be a lead ambassador at this conference and influence the lives of students from over 15 different countries.
The Beijing Summit provided an outlet for highly motivated students to enhance their leadership skills through the study of global politics and international relations. Not only were these students inspired to be leaders in the future, but they were equipped with skills to be leaders now. From figuring out how to survive in freezing winter to negotiating deals to sustain smart cities, the smiles never left the faces of the students as they continued to work as a team and learn about different cultures. This was more than just experiencing Beijing. The diverse setting offered the opportunity to strengthen the cross-cultural lenses that are much needed in our world today.
As a lead ambassador, my role was to act as an advisor to the delegates and assist them with speech writing, negotiations, and persuasive bids. To sum up, that means to make sure the students do not wage war with one another. After long days of meetings, workshops, teaching, and editing what seemed like a thousand speeches, we were able to choose the next winners of the summit.
Being that the nature of the summit was political and educational, I assumed that my greatest source of knowledge would come from the keynote speeches conducted by Harvard professors or the workshops led by renowned lawyers. Instead, it was from interacting with teenagers from across the globe and just speaking tête-à-tête. One conversation can influence your worldview. One conversation can put you closer to figuring out how you can change the world.
It is imperative that at this day and age, individuals learn to refine their global lenses. The new insights and perspectives on different topics is truly eye-opening. The stories and laughs that I shared with the 300 students at the summit will remain with me and guide me as I soon begin my independent path in the world. I am excited to be a lead ambassador at the next summit at Cambridge University this August and cannot wait to see what the future holds.