At the start of the program I was really nervous about meeting new people and if I had to get up and speak in front of everyone. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself  and I thought I wouldn’t be able to really connect with all these amazing people from all over the world because I felt like my confidence was so low compared to everyone else in the program. However at the end of the program I was so glad that all those feelings I had at the start were almost non-existent. At the end of the program I could feel a significant difference in my confidence and I was more open to speaking in front of people without feel so self-conscious all the time, and I was more aware about other issues in the world. The atmosphere throughout was always amazing everyone was so friendly and all the coaches made everyone feel so welcome. At the end of the program I loved how I had made so many friends from so many different parts of the world, I now have so many different friendships with people in different countries, I still keep in touch with them and I plan on treasuring those friendships for many years to come.

Firstly we would all meet in our common room for registration and then head down to an amazing breakfast were we’d sit and chat to each other. Then we would have a morning plenary every morning and each morning the plenary would have a different theme for example two themes we got were: authenticity and mindfulness. Then we would usually split up into our teams that we were put in at the start of the summit. Here we would be in classrooms and we would talk about different worldwide issues, what we would like to change, we did a lot of team building exercises and we discussed a lot about the different sustainable development goals. Then would go for our lunch in the dinning hall which was always pretty good. The afternoons were also usually spent in our teams and then later in we’d go into the dining hall for dinner. In the evenings we would normally do different activities or have free time were we could all come together and do fun activities like different sports, play music and just talk with different people and have a good time. Then we would head back into our boarding houses and we’d chill out there sometimes with hot cocoa and biscuits until it was time for lights out.

I would tell them about how amazing the experience was. All the people are so incredibly friendly and welcoming from the start. I’d tell them about the amazing opportunity you have to make amazing friends from all over the world and form friendships that will last for years and years to come. You have a lot of opportunities to speak in public and develop that skill. You get to get involved with a lot of different and interesting discussions about different world issues and what you would like to see change in the world. You get to do really fun team building activities with amazing people. Overall it is an amazing and unforgettable experience and you should definitely consider going because you’ll have memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

One evening we had a GSL talent show; it was such a fun night with great people. Each team had to perform a skit that they had prepared based on a sustainable development goal they were given, a place the skit had to be set in and a theme. Also people could display an individual talent they had. Also the coaches did a skit as well which was so fun to watch. Siting in the audience and taking in part in this with amazing friends was what made this such a fun experience. There was an amazing atmosphere, everyone was supporting each other and having fun. Some of things performed were really funny and really fun to participate in. Overall this stood out to me because all of us came together and had such an enjoyable night- I didn’t want the night to end!