Final Preparations

It's nearly time to head off to New York for the UN General Assembly - just a week left - and I can't quite believe how fast the time has gone. I can still remember receiving a call from the foreign ministry and being overjoyed at getting an interview. I can still remember the happiness of hearing that I'd been successfully selected, but equally the sorrow that one of my very good friends had not been chosen alongside me.

The last few months have been absolutely frantic, definitely the busiest period of my short life to date. At times I've felt like there's been too much happening for me to cope with, but nevertheless believe that it's important to be an active citizen and work for the good of society.

Tonight I'm in a very contemplative mood. On the bus returning home from my new job as Participation Support Worker for Hounslow youth council I had a truly fascinating conversation with one colleague. She's had a very tough life and people never expected her to get to where she is now, for a variety of reasons. It was this knowledge which motivated her to work harder and achieve more.

But the main theme of our conversation was the level of luxury that citizens of developed countries enjoy and often take for granted. In the youth council meeting earlier, all participants agreed that one of the major problems in British society at the moment is widespread disengagement of youth and our resulting apathy about democratic processes and politics in general.

While we worry about problems like this and ponder on possible solutions, people in developing countries cannot afford to even think about anything like it because of their everyday struggles against disease, poverty and oppression. Their version of a major political dilemma is the fact that many states are subject to horrific and tyrannical dictatorships, totalitarian regimes - while all the while, here in the UK, we're talking about how we want to help young people get more involved.

People need to think about their own lives in a wider global context. My recent experiences with youth from all over the world have taught me this. Too many of us take the simplest things for granted; we can go and have a drink of water, throw half the cup away when our thirst is quenched and move on to the next thing without even thinking. We can absent-mindedly misplace a pen or other seemingly insignificant everyday item and not worry about it, knowing there's always a supply of more.

These are the things people often do not realise are actually luxuries. Simple things. Things which seem like they're just normal. Next time you're doing something like this, please consider your priveleged position. Remember that the very essence of a civilised life in a developed country is a gift and be grateful for it. And please use this status to try and help others less fortunate than you whenever possible.

My realisation of this over the past few months has helped me work harder, just as it did with my colleague from the youth council. It may have been the busiest period of my life so far, and I may have become almost overrun at times, but it's been an unbelievable experience and hopefully will get even better.

The UN is going to be a massive challenge, there's no denying that. However, it will also be an awesome learning experience and that's something for which I really cannot wait. But one thing I'm going to remember every day, for the rest of my life, is just how lucky I am.