Queenswood students at the Global Young Leaders Conference
Wednesday 9 January 2019
Every year, several Queenswood Sixth Formers who show particular leadership potential are nominated to participate in the Global Young Leaders Conference, which takes place each summer in Washington DC and New York.
In 2018, four girls attended. Here, Colette Bacon (Upper Sixth) reflects on her experiences.
The Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) in Washington D.C. and New York was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a fantastic experience.
It took the form of a mock UN conference. We were each assigned to a country and presented with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. I was a diplomat of China and had the challenge of submitting a resolution for Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. I worked with two others, Ezequiel and Keanu from New Mexico, with whom I very quickly became friends and am still in contact.
Understanding the processes involved in passing resolutions that affect the world was a great experience. Besides working on the goals, we had the pleasure of listening to a variety of global leaders, all of whom were incredibly inspiring.
One of my favourite aspects of the trip was the sight-seeing that we did in both New York and Washington. Places I visited included the Lincoln Memorial, the Cypriot embassy, a World War II memorial and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the ‘Met’). It’s amazing how much we crammed into just 10 days!
I also really enjoyed meeting an immense number of people from a diverse range of countries and cultures, including Cameroon, Trinidad, Canada, Peru, Hong Kong, South Africa…the list goes on. Cultural exchange was encouraged in cross-cultural communication meetings within your assigned group (mine being China), but for me the best part was spontaneously meeting people and simply having a chat. Those exchanges were priceless, and I am still in contact with some of the people that I met out there today.
I would recommend this trip to anyone who is given the opportunity – I have many happy memories from my time in Washington and New York and have made long-lasting friendships with people all around the world.