Summit Day 1--From a Student Group Leader

There is something exhilarating about being in a foreign country. However, this whole experience has been something beyond explanation.

Monday at 10 am, Brian Wallach and I headed down to the German United Nations building for a group leader meeting. The 200 students in attendance to the summit sent their leaders to represent them in during the conference. For the entire day we sat in the conference room, discussing what questions to ask during the question and answer portion of the summit and how to prepare for the meetings. Before we knew it, it was 5:30 pm and we all wanted desperately to leave and find a space at Brandenburg Gate for the celebration of the anniversary of the Berlin Wall.

By the time the leaders spoke, Bon Jovi was done singing, and the dominoes had fallen, it was nearly midnight here and the streets began to clear. Mr. Ives was invited to a small meeting after the ceremony, held by the mayor of Berlin.

After such a long day on Monday it was nice to have a good night’s sleep, however that didn’t come to easy for me, as I was dealing with the nerves and high levels of anticipation for Tuesday’s conference.

We were all up and out early in order to make it to the Rathaus where our conference took place. Once we settled in, checked our coats, and made some sort of unorganized seating arrangements, the conference began. Opening remarks were made by powerful laureates like Mikhail Gorbachev, and the press flocked the hall in order to hear him speak.

Directly after the welcomes and the opening, Tom Brocaw was named moderator of the first session on “breaking down walls” within Germany and the implications Germans have dealt with in the past compared to now. The discussion also led to a better understanding of how the effects of the Berlin Wall coming down created a certain global understanding for other countries.

Each session throughout the day was a topic on “breaking down walls” like within the environment, between the rich and the poor, etc. The sessions for day 2 will also be on breaking down walls, however in the forms of intolerance and nuclear weapons.

The sessions allowed for of the each panelist to introduce themselves and present their point. After all point was out on the table, the floor was open for discussion and the audience began to participate by asking questions. As the evening progressed, I felt comfortable enough to represent the Youth Group Representatives as well as the Albert Schweitzer Institute and Quinnipiac University, so I collected my thoughts and went to the microphone to ask my question.

Of course, as nothing in my life can ever go smoothly, another woman ran up to the mic, cutting me off and preceded to interrupt my status. While the rest of the laureates in the room stared in shock, cameras pointed in my direction as I awkwardly watched this women rant and rave about women’s rights and the feminist view. And while I understood her argument, it was neither the time nor place for that discussion. Finally, when she was out of breath, I took my chance to jump in and say what I needed to say.

The panel was, at this point, tired and exhausted especially due to the commotion this woman had caused, and avoided answering my question on a solution to bridging the gap between the rich and poor.

Of course, being some little student poking my nose in places some feel it never belonged, I wandered around during the break to stretch my legs. It was then that various students and other representatives were coming up and shaking my hand, asking about the Albert Schweitzer Institute. In all my glory, I was thrilled to say the least, but it wasn’t until laureate Muhammad Yunas, a panelist, came over to shake my hand and let me know that the discussion and questions I was proposing was interesting and should be looked into further and explored much deeper.

I literally couldn’t stop the smile, nor could I hide it for the rest of the day.

At the end of the evening, Brian and I as well as a bunch of the other youth group leaders went out for a quick dinner and drinks and did some debriefing on the day’s conference. All-in-all I feel that this is a wonderful opportunity and it is something that Quinnipiac students and students around the world should be fighting to be involved in.

We, as the youth, as the next generation to carry through the brilliant ideas set forth by those on these panels. There needs to be youth representatives because without them there can only be follow-through on so many was. The intergenerational gap should be, and can be, closed with the right leaders behind it.
-Jenna Uliano


**Pictures are to follow ASAP.