Mohamed Aziz Chebi (Tunisia; YYAS 2021 Online)
If you ask me how to describe YYAS in one word, I will say “unforgettable”.
I never heard about YYAS before until a friend of mine advised me to apply for YYAS if I am interested in living an amazing one-week experience. So, I did, and luckily I got in. As soon as I got the Welcome Packet & the seminar bluebook, I knew it is going to be an unbelievable week.
In my first seminar about fighting unemployment in Africa, I learned about Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth and the different African initiatives to fight this problem. I still remember how Zambia’s finance minister Alexander Chikwanda describes this problem as a “ticking time bomb”. In my second seminar about social entrepreneurship, I learned that big social impact projects start small and that doing tiny work is better than doing nothing.
YYAS offered us career guidance sessions. I enjoyed Julia Jenjezwa talking about her experience in teaching coding to eight years children and teaching robotics to U.S. Marine Corps. She was very inspirational!
One more thing special about YYAS 2021 is the speeches given by the United Nations Young Leaders for the SDGs and how they were at a very young age advocating for a better world. Of course, I cannot forget that I had the chance to connect with more than 350 students from many different countries. Each person has a special story to tell you.
All of these features make YYAS a unique program but it is more than that. In fact, YYAS is more than a one-week program.
YYAS offers all its participants access to a mentorship program. You will assign a mentor who will help you in your application process. The mentor can help in making your college list, writing your essays, and researching for financial aid offers. So, your college application is no longer overwhelming.
Now, what are you waiting for? Time for you to join YYAS.