My name is Alan, I live in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, and I am 16 years old. I decided to attend this CAS Virtual Conference because I want to be part of young leaders that want to change our world.
Considering your own strengths and weaknesses, how do you feel that participating in this Virtual CAS Conference gave you an opportunity for personal growth?
It made me grow in a lot of aspects, improve my English skills, and helped me to be a better teammate and about good proposals. The conferences helped me recognized that the world needs a change now and be excited to be part of it.
What challenges did you face? Which skills did you develop as a result?
During the Hackathon activity, I was in front of challenges, such as creating new ideas, being creative, ingenious, and making a proposal that never comes across. As a result, I got better in my English skills, and also on the naturist side because it made me more aware of what is happening and what can happen with my future.
Has this experience inspired you to initiate and plan future CAS activities of your own?
Yes, now I want to start creating awareness in my family about this, then among my friends, and I want to create a non-profit company that influences teenagers and young adults, to convert on young leaders that want to help nature and make a change in the world.
How did this activity require you to demonstrate perseverance or commitment?
The challenges this event made you face, such as teamwork, creating a proposal, and also the personal challenges after the event, for example, the creation of an organization that helps teenagers to take care of the environment. All of the goals mentioned before need the perseverance to do, so it’s time to start working on them.
You worked collaboratively during the Hackathon. What role did you perform and what did you learn from others in your team?
I performed the role of the creative director of the team because I was giving ideas and trying to improve our project. I learned about my other teammates as the value of having time in mind, because I’m a person that never knows when to finish something, and they were always reminding us how much time we have and what we need to do.
Which issues of global significance do you felt you engaged with? How?
I was very engaged with the solution for climate crisis problems because we relied on AASD, a non-profit company that wants to help the solution this problematic, and we try to help them increase their donations to grow their social labor. I have some individual proposals that principally make people aware of this problem.
When considering the ethics of your own actions, did this weekend challenge your beliefs? Has the experience inspired you to change any of your own behavior?
Yes, the experience made me change my behavior and beliefs in a lot of aspects. I am going to start recycling. I will make some activities to help the environment, give conferences in schools regarding these problems and possible solutions. This conference helped me to be a better person, student, and principally a better citizen for our planet.
