Ha Minh and Sung Woo have together prepared short writing about their trip and "Inspired" is what they want to conclude. Their sharing is below:
‘Inspired’ is a verb to describe giving someone enthusiasm and desire to do something. To be inspired, that’s not an easy thing to be. Yet, we can’t find any other words to describe this trip. It taught us about the Global Goals, about how the United Nations is listening to the youth of the world, and so many other things. Listening to UN leaders and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) staff, as well as visiting the actual Headquarters of the UN gave us a real insight into the top global organisations. In the HLPF (High Level Political Forum), we were able to listen to and meet people such as the Jamaican ambassador and the General Secretary assistant.
We were fortunate enough to have extra student roles. Sung Woo was chosen to be the gala dinner presenter, while Ha Minh was in the UN Art Exhibition and the Sing for Hope Choir at the HLPF. Sung Woo’s job was to prepare a speech about how NAE and their students have been involving to achieve the SDGs (student development goals) and present it to all of the student representatives as well as important people, including the Chair of Juilliard School. Ha Minh presented the artwork made by Nord Anglia students to UN staff as a way to showcase the youth involvement in SDGs These opportunities gave us unique experiences that otherwise, we would not be able to get.
We weren’t only ambassadors, we were also excited tourists visiting New York City. If asked, our most memorable experience would be our first night of excursions, when a blackout occurred, on the same date as 1977. Not only were we kept safe, but the teachers also brought us to see another special rare event which was called the Manhattanhenge that happens only 3 days a year. We had authentic experiences such as walking through the buzzing streets of busy New York and using the subway to transport. Not only that, we saw all of the famous attractions of the city including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire States Building, Central Park,... through evening excursions. The evening excursions were available for 3 nights during the trip, and they were amazing memories as they helped us to relax and bond with many other students.
There won’t be enough time to talk about all the things we did in New York, so we will conclude this article with one sentence. After New York, we can’t be anything else other than inspired.
- Ha Minh (Y12) and Sung Woo (Y12), winners of the Nord Anglia youth ambassador competition.