Young Expert Lilly shares here experience of attending the last Bootstrap project, Bootcamp…
Ačiū Lithuania – Let’s take a little deep dive together and unravel the craziness of the (unfortunately – yes we are all crying) last Bootcamp.
It was a real pleasure to create another event dedicated to meeting amazing Student Ambassadors from around Europe that we are advocating with. This last Bootcamp in Lithuania was all about policy and evaluation – what kind of government policies related to problematic internet usage would young adults like to see on social media platforms, how can we communicate them to the public and – of course a reflection on how their own involvement with this project has been so far.?
Coming all together, it was amazing to see that the Student Ambassadors really listened to each other and collaborated in a meaningful manner – a special thanks here to Prince, EYMH Facilitator, for his incredible leadership & facilitating skills and joining our group to create a vulnerable space and engaging everyone!
Day 1 – Rise & Shine
We started the first day with a huge welcome session, getting to know each other and as always tons of icebreakers. To make it fun, we added a little competition between the Student Ambassadors and their Teacher Ambassadors – and for everyone now wondering, of course the students won!
After that, it was time for the first workshop of the day – policy debate and critical analysis: platform design, responsibility, and protecting young peopleyouth protection. In this session, the students developed creative policies around managing media platforms and had the chance to get “interviewed” from the European Commission. It was incredible to see their visions on social media regulation and everyone did a fantastic job on tying all ideas together. Following a short break, we discussed fundamental digital rights in the next session and after lunch, the last workshop of the day was on the topic of psychological dialogue.
For our own EYMH team, the highlight of this day was definitely the new dance from Kosovo that we learned (thank you Albiona), which we danced in every little break we had – and also the Portuguese folk dance needs to be mentioned here (thank you Teresa). Ending this day, we shot our wrap of day one and headed for some free time and dinner into town.
Day 2 – From ideas to impact
We started the morning again with some icebreakers – there is nothing better than walking backwards or dancing around the room and getting to know the Student Ambassadors and to speak with someone new (but of course while reflecting on their use of online apps and screentime).
Then, in the session on designing policy messages, the students used their policies from day one to decide how they would like them to be communicated in the public – using social media or television broadcast for example, when will the policy be implemented and what changes have been made for the young adults using social media? Every group showed amazing creativity and communication skills – and I am now really curious to see how their final outcomes can be used further in the project.
Next up was our own evaluation session from EYMH: We started the workshop with a game called “arrows and shields”, which made us reflect on our goals, the possible difficulties (arrows) and measures that can support us (shields). After the icebreaker we began sharing associations to the word “evaluation” and in a circle activity we then evaluated our own involvement with the project as well as the Bootcamp and the project in itself – thank you everyone for opening up, being vulnerable and honest as well as sharing all your experiences. Even with the difficulties faced over time, it was amazing to see that everyone was connecting and wanting to stay in touch after the workshops – I truly hope your friendships grow more each day! Lastly, in groups, the ambassadors reflected on why they joined the project and the skills they learned over time – for example English improveming their Englishent, leadership skills and better communication.
In the afternoon we had some more free time to explore the city – and after a guided tour through Vilnius, our EYMH team found a cozy cafe with a backyard garden. The evening was well spent filming wrap day two and playing some rounds of UNO together – and everyone received their certificates for participating in this amazing Bootcamp.
Day 3 – That’s a Wrap
Although many had to leave us quite early already, we still had a lot of fun on the last day. In our drop-in event World Cafe, we had many creative stations set up – bead making, drawing, writing and taking notes for others to read on their way home.
Some people were brave enough to showcase their karaoke skills (kudos to you) and others managed to film short videos for our YouTube site (go and check it out). Of course many of us were tired from the last couple days, but coming together for one more time got us feeling a lot more energized. Everyone was so amazing, kind and uplifting, and it was really nice to see the ambassadors mingling, mixing-up and being comfortable around each other – some tears were shed as we had to say goodbye.
Hopefully all your travels back have been smooth and you had some time to let the new memories sink in – you all can be very proud of your accomplishments from the week! And in case you needed some positivity today, let me ask you: What are you proud of achieving this week?
To close this chapter of the project, I wanted to thank everyone who participated in this Bootcamp, the Student & Teacher Ambassadors, the facilitators and of course our amazing EYMH team – this would not have been possible with you guys!
The days were long and tiring, but we cannot say it enough – being a part of the Bootcamp in Lithuania made us feel blessed and grateful. A huge shoutout to everyone who took initiative, helped setting up the workshops and made this a Bootcamp to remember. I am excited to see how the project will further transform in the last two years and hopefully we will see each other again in the future. Euro Youth Mental Health – lived and loud!
