The Free the Children Club at Marymount gave me an opportunity to participate in a wonderful event, called Youth Summit, on November 21. During my time at this event, I met many wonderful students who ranged from 12-18 years old. What surprised me the most about them is how they all wanted to positively change the world just like me.

One of our first activities was a group solution session. The students divided into groups and talked about what is going on in the world. We tried to guess the populations of each country and how much food and money they have for the people. How could we help the countries that are poor? After we guessed the populations and food distribution, we were starkly surprised to see the huge disparities between continents like the U.S. and Africa. It was informative and fun listening to people’s solutions towards making a positive impact in our daily lives.

My favorite activity at this event was the action planning session when we got to collaborate with other students. First we listed the problems we saw in the world, then the Free the Children staff asked us how we can change the world with our gifts. My gift is dancing. I am passionate about it, and I have a ton of fun when moving with the beat. In addition to my gift, other students I talked to also had a passion for music. One of the other students played the tuba, and they wanted to find a way to make an impact with their gift, so we collaborated and eventually came up with the idea of a mini concert including talents from several schools. We plan to invite students from the Los Angeles area to watch us perform and collect an entrance fee in order to raise money for educational resources through Free the Children.

The FTC Youth Summit did not just give me new friends who have similar ideas, but we also had the opportunity to talk about global issues and brainstorm global solutions. I left feeling amazing!

Attendees: Grace Rector ’17 and Karen Ogisawa ’19