What Happened at Students Commission 1998?!
One Delegate Tells All!

- By Gerry, Windsor, ON

The Students Commission Millennium Brainstrom workshop ended up being the greatest experience of my life to date. Not only did I meet new and interesting people from across Canada, but I also gave my two cents worth on a very serious issue, namely child poverty.

Living in a city like Windsor, where there is more American influence than you know what to do with, I find it is quite a challenge to learn about issues facing fellow Canadian citizens. I feel that this conference opened my eyes to these issues and allowed me to better understand what is meant by child poverty, how we can fight it, and how it can ultimately be eradicated from our society.

The camraderie felt among 150 youths astounded me, especially when in my own community I saw youths in groups no larger than six, unable to agree on anything, and argue about nothing. My first impression was " I don't belong here". It didn't seem right that I should be considered a member of this fine group of human beings. My view changed, however, and I found that these youths were not only in the same boat as I was, but that they were just as unaware of the problem of child poverty as myself. The coordinators were extremely well prepared when organizing the youths and information into a package that kept the interest of each of every one of us.

By the end of the week I was even more surprised after reading the published report. I remember thinking: "Are youths really capable of such wonderful and bright ideas?" After rereading it, I discovered the answer was a definate "YES"! None of us were nuclear scientists in training, but all we needed was for somebody to listen, and, as it turned out, many people were actually willing to help us out. They find tuned our ideas into an organized plan of action which became recognized and respected by the Canadian Government.

This conference actually changed my life. Before this I didn't care much about anything or anybody uneless it affected me directly, and now I feel rejuvinated in my hope that ability of youth can change what is deemed wrong with the world.