“In my opinion, the lectures were the most memorable and most interesting parts of the program. The opportunity to listen actively and engage with eminent faculty from Yale University is one that I will cherish forever.”
I was elected President of the Union of High-School Students of North Macedonia (link is external) in June 2021. While I was heading the Union, I must say that YYGS helped me with approaching activism. I still remember the seminar on change (and whether it comes from top-down or from the bottom-up). One of the lessons I learned from my instructor and peers was that activists have to seek allies in order to achieve their goals.
Thus, the Union paired up with an NGO in our country — the Institute for Good Governance and Euro-Atlantic Perspectives (IDUEP) — and started an initiative titled “The future leaders start as leaders in the schools.” The initiative’s goal is to reform the Law on Secondary Education in the country so that every school is mandated to have a democratically elected student council. The current model does not include a direct election for the president of the student council. Instead, they are elected by a smaller number of students or even appointed by the teachers. Understanding the importance of teaching democracy and leadership from a young age — as well as having the high-schoolers’ students heard — UNSHM and IDUEP organize panel discussions, online campaigns, side events, and a conference. The end goal is to create a united front of CSOs that will draft a bill to send to Parliament. The model we propose is inspired by the American way of having student council elections (which I learned about through my YYGS peers who were planning to run for student governments in their respective schools). The initiative’s first event was on September 24, 2021, in Europe House, a venue directly controlled by the Delegation of the European Union in North Macedonia. It was a panel discussion that included me, two representatives from NGOs, and a renowned school psychologist. Many internet news sites and three national TV stations covered the event. We discussed the feasibility of the idea of having direct elections in each and every school. The conclusion was strong and unified: the new model will definitely be an improvement.