Portage College offered to sponsor two students for a chance to attend the One Young World Summit 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario.
The Student Association of Portage College (SAPC) did the screening nd chose the best of the submissions that included a curriculum vitae and an essay of not more than 1,000 words of the following topics:
Health-Mental Health
Peace & Security – Extremism
Human Rights – LGBTQ
Global Business – Entrepreneurship
Education – Skills gap
Environment
The two students chosen to be sponsored were Amy Saindon and Jules Cardinal who are students of the Social Work Program.
Jules Cardinal who is attending the Lac La Biche campus chose to attend the Indigenous Experience session as well as the Inclusion, Access and Disabilities in the Workplace session.
“I was thinking about my future and what would impact my field in social work the best. I am a subject of assimilation, because I don’t know my past or my culture that well. I grew up around racism, judgement and discrimination,” Cardinal continued, “As I was growing up I learned to walk and talk and try to act normal like everyone else. For the longest time people thought I was Japanese, which was a lot easier.”
When asked before going to the summit Cardinal said, “I’m excited about the summit. I’m looking for any possible way on improving myself and help my career grow. I see a lot of opportunities to network and it will help my resume grow.”
Amy Saindon who is attending the Cold Lake campus did a presentation for Operations Committee on her experience at the summit.
Saindon was chosen to compete to be a delegate speaker out of 300. She chose Health-Mental Health for her essay topic which included the following: mental health, empowerment, survivor, stigma and united fronts. She was short listed to the final 90.
The summit included many famous speakers like Justin Trudeau, Emma Watson and Cher. There were several topics, but the ones that stood out for Saindon were the following.
The United Nations brought forward their global goals:
The Peace and Security plenary session included the following questions?
How can young people prevent the radicalization of their generation?
Can we create a truly inclusive civil society?
Global politics is increasingly extreme. How do we amplify moderate voices?