Young Social Innovators

I am the newest American Intern at Young Social Innovators. I went in with another girl named Sarah today to meet with Cathy, the head of the Education Department. She was a delightful woman and taught us all about what YSI is and what it's impact is on the community. I was actually quite impressed. It is a charity organization which works with teens in their TY (transition year), which is this bizarre year when they are 15 when they do not do the basic academic work in school, but rather they take classes in what interest them, say Emily Bronte, or pottery. Almost anything as long as the school can accommodate it. So, YSI goes in targets kids who want to volunteer in their community and get their voices heard, but technically in Ireland you are not allowed to volunteer until you are 18. The kids are then guided to find what social actions interest them, whether it be health care policy, teen drinking, homophobia, or even smaller issues more close to home, such as getting a bus stop put in front of their school. Then they have to research and create a project to show how they are going to get their voice heard.

It is a very interesting organization, which I am excited to work for. The Dublin office, the only one in Ireland, only has 5 women working in it, but they cater to over 6,000 teens. It is really an amazing feet. I will work there about 10-15 hours a week depending on whether I am going to travel or not. They are very flexible and excited I have so much event background because a lot of what they do is planning events for their members. It sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun and very close knit. Plus, it is in the heart of the city a skip away from Trinity, so it will obviously get me into the city more which I am very excited about!

I start on Monday, wish me luck!