Global Youth Summit takes big steps towards change

MANILA, Philippines - Last Sept. 7, delegates from all over the country participated in the 2012 Global Youth Summit, a one-day conference spearheaded by AIESEC. More than a thousand college students gathered at the SM North EDSA Skydome to learn from a lineup of notable speakers, which included Brad Geiser, CEO of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Inc.; noted musician, TV personality, and educator Jim Paredes; and Pie Alvarez, mayor of San Vicente, Palawan, and currently the youngest mayor in the country.

With the theme “GYS in 3D: Design, Develop and Deliver,” the summit aimed to serve as an avenue for the youth to learn the ropes of designing innovative and insightful ideas, developing the necessary leadership skills, and ultimately bringing their ideas to fruition. The issues tackled in the summit revolved around health and education, which the delegates applied through a case competition.

Through various talks from widely experienced speakers, the delegates were taught the basics of generating project ideas, as well as management and sustainability. Furthermore, the delegates were introduced to case solving as a method of learning, wherein projects are analyzed from an objective standpoint with the purpose of further developing them.

Through the Global Youth Summit, the young delegates were tasked to take on a role that was much larger than they could ever imagine. The summit answered both the how’s and why’s of being socially proactive, perhaps the biggest questions faced by the youth today.

Beyond reemphasizing the notion that they are society’s hope for tomorrow, the summit reminded the youth that it is doable and feasible to create and execute their big ideas through formulating concrete solutions.

The Global Youth Summit has yet again instilled in the delegates the motivation to take the initiative to address social problems. Most importantly, it left the impression that things can be done, even at a young age.

One of the summit’s inspirational speakers, Michael Lobrin, pointed out that “Life is a choice.” After the Global Youth Summit, the delegates were inspired to make the choice to test their limits and see just how far they could go. Without a doubt, they chose to take the next big step: doing.

To know more about the Global Youth Summit or AIESEC, contact Michael Fua at 0905-369-6300 or e-mail michael.fua@aiesec.net.