Day 5 of the Summer Training Conference

Alican Torun and Özge Tokaküçük are Project Manager Fellows of the One World Youth Project (OWYP) team at the Istanbul Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey, managing the OWYP program on their campus and community.

Written By Alican Torun and Özge Tokaküçük

When we learned that the Summer Training Conference (STC) would be in Kosovo, a country we have never been to before, we were so excited. Throughout the conference, we ate different food, met interesting people, explored natural places and learned so much about our leadership roles.

On the first day of the conference, we arrived at the natural and beautiful Boge village, which had fresh air, bright stars, sheep, cows, and friendly people working at the hotel. We then met our wonderful educators from the OWYP staff team: Jess, Cady, Myk, Scott, and George.

Friday was the last day we spent time together. We started by playing a fun and educational energizer, which woke us up for a day of leadership activities that prepared us to launch our OWYP program in Turkey.

Then, each Project Manager Fellow (PMF) made a short video called “STC Through My Eyes,” a multimedia project that we created and produced for the other participants, which focused on our weeklong experience at STC. At the evening program, everyone seemed sad because it was time to say goodbye. At the same time, everyone was also ready to go back home and start implementing One World Youth Project in our communities.

STC was a very special experience for all of the PMFs because we had the chance to share personal stories, discuss things about our cultures, work out any problems that might come up during the year, and create meaningful relationships with each other. STC was a discovery between people and an exploration of who we are as leaders and people. We can break taboos and stereotypes by meeting each other personally and developing honest friendships. STC was a journey to travel through every person’s world.