It’s the after curfew philosophical talks, the Sunday morning run, hearing new ideas and new perspectives every day. It’s taking closer looks at 800-year-old gold-gilded manuscripts, walking around Yale’s campus during family time. Everything was like new ground for anyone with an endlessly curious mind to fulfill and adapt their vision, which I found fascinating.
Hearing fellow YYGS students’ views and experiences was enlightening and empowering. Even though we were from different corners of our world, it was evident that we are all ‘global citizens’ that all have the drive and the potential to shape our world in the years to come for the better. I loved spending time with all the amazing people I met at YYGS; I will treasure the friendships made and the time shared forever.
After the program ended, I wrote a small article on my experience at YYGS for our school newspaper, “The Global Times.” My article was selected among many other student submissions and will be printed in the September month edition. Also, I further enhanced my Capstone Project on Cyber Security of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and prepared a research paper and submitted it for the Scopus Indexed Journal. My experience at Yale Young Global Scholar was awesome and unforgettable.
One of the reasons I decided to apply to SDSE was to return to Mexico with a project idea that could aid my community, since my country lacks of efforts to tackle this issue. In YYGS, our simulation team came up with an extraordinary proposal to mitigate the effects of climate change. I decided to apply a similar idea into my high school. In a general overview, the initiative is a machine that is able to transform organic waste into fertilizer. Since this process releases methane, this gas is transformed by the same machine into natural gas.
Graduating from the YYGS, I left with a much deeper understanding of the field of neuroscience and psychology and how I could use it to address several of the crises the world faces today. More specifically, I began to think about the psychology of mental health and the fact that many people are growing up in environments where mental health is a taboo topic. Wanting to further my understanding of this aspect of neuroscience, I completed free online courses by Harvard University on the topics of Global Public Health, and received Mental Health First Aid training at a nearby location.
I was a videographer on the YYGS Communications Team this past summer. I wanted to give applicants a more upbeat and less pressured idea about what the application process was like. It was great interviewing my fellow peers and getting to see their interest and applicaiton experiences, which varied from person to person. We all had so much fun in the end, and the program itself was a wonderful experience.
It seems impossible to pick just one amazing memory to share, as every moment I spent at YYGS was full of laughter and support. But if I had to choose, I would pick family time with my incredible leader Sarah Jho. Our family group instantly clicked, and family time was never seen as a required activity, but rather a spontaneous and fun time we all looked forward to.
My favourite memory from YYGS was the whole speaker series night. All the talks were amazing, some were inspiring, emotional and touching, others outstandingly mind opening and fascinating. And besides the actual content, the vibe and buzz for the whole evening was so energetic and magical. Being surrounded by passionate, strong thinkers and engaged people, in such a supportive environment was so special.
My favorite memory from YYGS was definitely the people I met. I was able to learn more about different cultures and meet people from countries I’ve never heard of before. This topped up with the chance to sit in lectures by amazing professors for sure made YYGS such a wonderful experience.
After YYGS, I came back to Canada and volunteered with Richmond Delta Youth Parliament to present an Epilepsy Awareness booth at my local library. It all started with a brave and inspirational new member of our youth parliament, Marika Leigh, who has epilepsy: a neurological disorder characterized by having unpredictable seizures. She spoke out about what it’s like to have epilepsy and the challenges she has to face everyday, from battling with this disorder to responses from her peers.
