The following text was written by Christine Costello, one of the member of the Digital youth Council, who has participated in the THINKING BIG workshop in Dublin. THANK YOU so much, Christine, for your words and analysis! Brilliant work!
"Last Thursday, 18th of February in the bustling RTÉ television studios, in Dublin, the Digital Youth Council (DYC) group took part in a Thinking Big Workshop run by Edite Amorim.
At the beginning of the workshop, we were asked to guess what the workshop would entail, what motivated us to come. From this one simple question, spawned almost five hours of activity and discussion that both broadened and engaged the mind.
"Last Thursday, 18th of February in the bustling RTÉ television studios, in Dublin, the Digital Youth Council (DYC) group took part in a Thinking Big Workshop run by Edite Amorim.
At the beginning of the workshop, we were asked to guess what the workshop would entail, what motivated us to come. From this one simple question, spawned almost five hours of activity and discussion that both broadened and engaged the mind.
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We dealt with serious issues such as the refugee crisis, taking a closer look at the personal lives of a few Syrians struggling in the camps that, despite everything, remain optimistic and cheerful.
While the theme of the refugees was crucial to the workshop and was the core-topic of conversation, we branched off into other areas such as curiosity and how we can remain curious even as we grow older and no longer have time to question.
While the theme of the refugees was crucial to the workshop and was the core-topic of conversation, we branched off into other areas such as curiosity and how we can remain curious even as we grow older and no longer have time to question.
The answer was broken down to one simple sentence: Question the obvious. It seems as we’ve grown older, we’ve begun taking the most basic things for granted. Why is the sky blue? It just is. We’ve fallen into the trap of taking everything as it is without question. This kills curiosity.
The Thinking Big workshop allowed us to explore our own thoughts and share them with the group. Through this, we learnt something new about each other and discovered just how addictive curiosity can be; one question leads to another and suddenly your mind is consumed by it.
The Thinking Big workshop allowed us to explore our own thoughts and share them with the group. Through this, we learnt something new about each other and discovered just how addictive curiosity can be; one question leads to another and suddenly your mind is consumed by it.
After discovering how little we knew about our friends around us, we powered on to the next topic: other people. In the previous activity, we shared anecdotes that we wouldn’t normally share in everyday conversation and realised just how interesting other people’s lives can be.
One person in the group owned an alpaca and founded his own petting zoo, while another girl has been doing computer coding since she was eleven and met Bono! With this new found curiosity, we took to discussing other people outside the group and their lives. Stranger danger is a fear that limits experiences. Long gone are the days of friendly chats on public transport and sharing stories in cafés. You never know where a friendly conversation will take you and you should not fear it. Live life to its fullest and take the time to listen and appreciate the world around you. Travel more, smile more and know that people matter.
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You may be wondering where the topic of refugees falls into all this. The session ended with a picture slideshow, showing pictures of some of the refugees Edite met while working at the camps. She told us of their life stories and their experiences. Refugees are people too and they matter. It’s often easier to view people as just numbers on a page, when in fact everyone has their own story they want to tell and share.
If I were to take one thing away from this workshop, it would be to embrace curiosity and live life to its fullest.
If I were to take one thing away from this workshop, it would be to embrace curiosity and live life to its fullest.
This day helped us develop as a team, explore ourselves and what we want to do, and to appreciate everyone and everything around us. It wasn’t what we expected upon arriving, but it definitely went above and beyond everyone’s expectations."
Christine Costello
Christine Costello
Thank you so much, Christine, for your words and ability to organize the day in this text!
And HUGS to all the amazing future-makers!
And HUGS to all the amazing future-makers!
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