Inspiring youth stories are where you find them, but a good number seem to begin at the historic Yale campus where I had the honor of spending two weeks this summer as a Politics, Law, Economics (PLE) student.
As a curious student, passionate about global politics, international law and world affairs, I went into the program ready to have all my questions answered.
In a period marked by global turbulence unseen before, where information, ideas, and cultures transcend geographical boundaries, the need for “perspective taking” is imperative, I knew. In a diverse community of experts, academics, researchers, professors, mentors and young global scholars brought together by YYGS, I finally had the opportunity to do just that.
It wasn’t hard for me to realize that anyone who comes to New Haven for this program shapes the collective experience in their own way. In this melting pot of great diversity, there is a deliberate effort to enroll students of all backgrounds who will educate each other within a variety of campus settings— academic, extracurricular, and social.
Maybe while going to the African American cultural center for family time, you’ll meet someone from Germany on the way who really understands your love for good, fresh ‘brot’ and shares your annoying dedication to precise ingredient proportions. Or you might end up having an unexpectedly meaningful conversation with the person sitting beside you after an intriguing lecture on what it means not just to have a democracy, but to keep a democracy from an Indian perspective, as another activist joins in with their experiences with solidarity movements in Iran. Conversations in these rooms have the potential to shape discourse globally.
As a participant, you have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the academic resources around you. After every lecture, the lecturers offered several chances for me to be able to ask questions and add my views to the discussions. If time fell short, they willingly stayed behind and thoughtfully responded to my arguments and endless curiosities. I also did multiple special meals which were great ways to spend time knowing more about the teachers and gaining clarity about your field of interest.
Above all, seminars, I found, involved more participation, were engaging and offered an intimate environment to delve into a specific topic and anatomize that topic through a variety of viewpoints and approaches. Instructors welcomed discussions both inside and outside the classrooms.
YYGS need-based financial aid the program is among the most generous in the world of pre-college programs, and ensures that all admitted students can afford their YYGS experience. My presence could only be possible because 100% of my financial need was met.
For one of the YYGS prompts, my response included “my days will brim with vibrant experiences” and that I could “see myself learning, engaging and impacting.” With victories small and big, conversations rich and fun, community both diverse and intimate, I learned, engaged and impacted.
I left New Haven with more questions than I imagined, even though I had hoped for otherwise. But YYGS made me realize that there are no easy answers to the complex world we inhabit. That with the tools of knowledge and education however, we have the power to discover solutions to the toughest questions of our time, and explore the path forward, being unburdened by what has been.
At the much dreaded moment of departure, there was sadness, there were tears, there was a wave of excitement for having valued and over or. But there was also a renewed hope for tomorrow. In the past 14 days, we had challenged and gotten challenged in return. We demonstrated confidence in the speaker series, and experienced vulnerability in intimate common room conversations at night. We acknowledged privilege and at the same time took time to appreciate the struggles of all people.
We lamented the state of our world, but more important; we made a heartfelt commitment to ourselves and each other to make it better.
With every gathering, with every student initiative born during this time, with every laugh shared and every dream created, YYGS builds a community that will last.
We now know whatever it takes, we’ll find a way.
But if we can’t, we will make one.
Author Details:
Samar Jain
Politics, Law & Economics
India & Canada