Creating Social Change as Youth

By: Thanda Lwin, Lakehead University Thunder Bay Sprout Ideas Camp

My experience this summer at Sprout Ideas Camp in Thunder Bay, Ontario was amazing! I got the opportunity to create a social innovation project on a social issue that resonated with me. During the week long camp our ideas and decisions really did matter because Sprout Ideas Camp helped to make these ideas into action. The process that started with brainstorming social issues that we were passionate about and that lead to our pitches to industry experts was wonderful.

Sprout Ideas Camp was effective but at the same time not like a classroom that was boring or a drag. It was not at all an authoritative environment; where one could feel a lot of negative pressure. Everyone was  friends with everyone. We did many activities that were engaging and enjoyable. We also had guest speakers who were very informative and inspiring, they gave us great feedback. I appreciated all of this very much.

Sprout Ideas Camp taught me how to work together with a team while understanding that everyone has their own wants, opinions and background beliefs. I better understand that ideas can combine. It doesn't always have to be this or that, it can somehow excitingly be both this AND that.

I also learned that our ideas are very powerful and that we as youth can really make a difference. We don't have to wait to make change because we're youth!