global young leaders 

Global Young Leaders Conference 2019

Eric Seychell

Year 12

BSC School Captain

From July 1 to July 10 this year,  I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) in the United States, held in the cities of Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York.

The GYLC, run by Envision, is a 10-day course that focuses on student exposure to the challenges of international diplomacy, developing a passion for international affairs while exploring a future career, and gaining a fresh, new global perspective.

Students from approximately 145 countries participate in the conference, signing up to 10 days of rigorous curriculum. The experience equips students with the confidence, independence, skills, and global competitiveness required for the next generation of global leaders.

While it would be impossible for me to tell you all the amazing experiences I had during the 10 days, I would like to highlight a few key moments.

I’ll begin with my visit to the US State Department, where after an hour of laborious security checks, we listened to Gina Cabrera who is the current Arabic spokesperson for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She discussed the current position of the US in the Middle East, and what the steps are for re-engaging diplomatic efforts in the region.

On this same day, I listened to Angelica Silvero from the World Bank discussing their role on the international stage, and James Nations the Director for the Centre for Human Ecology speaking about the ways in which we can use the environment to expand economic growth without its destruction.

In Washington DC, we also visited the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, where we met Korean diplomats who explained the function of an embassy as well as elaborated on the current relationship of the US and South Korea. This was especially interesting, as only a few days before President Trump has met with Kim Jung Un in the DMZ (Korean Demilitarised Zone).

Our day trip to Philadelphia was to see the University of Pennsylvania, one of the eight Ivy League schools.

The visit to the United Nations in New York was amazing, as I was able to enter the Security Council and General Assembly where world leaders have convened thousands of times to discuss and debate the most pressing issues of our time. This is where we conducted our model UN that the program leads up to.

There is so much more I could tell you about - such as the trip to the Rockefeller Centre, the cruise around New York harbour and exploratory trips we had around New York city - it was a very busy and exciting time! 

I am so thankful that I’ve had this opportunity and I hope that more students from Brunswick Secondary College will have the opportunity to attend the GYLC next year.