Produced by TYI
by Avashnee Govender
“Being a young person in today’s world is hard.”
The words of every young person…ever.
Yet, we forget about how truly blessed we are to be a youth in today’s era, post-apartheid and living in the 4th industrial revolution.
Today, being a youth is a blessing because of the freedom and educational rights we have thanks to the unwavering courage and willpower of the youth of the 1976 uprising. South Africa has grown significantly over the years following democracy and today, we look back with an abundance of gratitude to those who fought so valiantly for our educational freedom.
Being a youth, I believe we have the power and potential to revolutionise our world (following in the footsteps of those before us). But do we realise this power? As many before me, I, being a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed graduate entering the working environment was under the impression that I was going to play a significant part in a democratic country accepting of change, equality and freedom of speech and choice.
But I was gruesomely disappointed in the sheer contradiction between what is fed to us throughout our schooling and university career and what is the actual reality faced by many in our country. Let’s face it, it is much easier to follow the societal norm, avoid disruption and become comfortable, along with everyone else, in what is perceived as the status quo – as ambitious as I am, even I started to believe this…
But then I was reminded of the hope and promise of the youth, the potential and power we possess in the future of our country.
We are the drivers for our country, the catalysts for change and if we start becoming comfortable and accepting the societal norms as our own, then how can we foresee positive growth and development in our country?
How can we expect our country to embrace equality, freedom of speech and choice and be accepting of change and the discomfort it may bring if we as the youth aren’t willing to fight for what we believe and was taught is right?
In order for us to become the change catalysts our country needs or the disruptors who constantly challenge the status quo, we need step out of our own comfort zone and identify the strong support system we have – our fellow youth.
We need to have the courage to stop allowing our world to define us, but start believing in ourselves to define our world. We live in an era where digitization and automation have revolutionized the world and provided us, as the youth, with platforms to network, to express ourselves and support one another. I have seen this on countless occasions through social media and personal blogs.
I am proud to say that the youth of today are not afraid to challenge the status quo through these platforms or to express their thoughts on pertinent issues such as global warming, environmental sustainability through zero-plastic-usage initiatives and recycling, fighting for human and animal rights, the importance of collaboration and service-learning when it comes to community service, and many more critical topics that impact our lives.
The youth of today also use these social media platforms to share their experiences and embrace freedom of speech, equality and diversity. We live in an era where our educational system provides us with the opportunity to embrace and understand this diversity and gives us hope to dream knowing that we have the potential live out our dreams irrespective of our race, cultural background or circumstances.
Throughout my life experiences, one thing I have been exposed to about dreaming is that the only way you can live your dream is if you set it as a goal and develop a plan to reach it.
It was only later in my life when I was given a reality check about dreams and opportunity, but this is advice that I wished I had received earlier in my life, and advice that I know will be beneficial to you: In the words of William Henley, ‘You are the master of your fate”, you make your own opportunities no one is coming to help you reach your dreams or provide you with opportunities.
If you want to live out your dreams, it’s up to you to reach it. Truth be told, there are only a select few during rare occasions who have opportunities knocking at their doors.
Another piece of advice that I received recently is with respect to skills development and self-directed learning.
I wish that the educational system at school had taught me about the importance of upskilling ourselves, embracing life-long and self-directed learning and ensuring we develop skills that make us fit for the future, especially with the current automation and intelligent automation revolutionising our world.
These are pertinent topics that directly impact the youth of today. Are we preparing ourselves for the future knowing very well that the future is tomorrow? Do we realise that we may be studying towards jobs that don’t even exist yet?
For those of us who hate learning, are we prepared to embrace life-long learning and upskilling ourselves so that we stay relevant?
These have become the questions that I urge all of us to consider in order for us to take our future into our own hands and become the disruptors and change catalysts that our country needs to move forward.
Again I reiterate how much power, potential and promise lies within the youth of today to drive our country, and our world forward. Following in the footsteps of the youth of the 1976 uprising, we too are the revolutionisers – in our personal lives, in our schools, in our jobs, in our society. We are catalysts for change and drivers of growth. We cannot let our circumstances define us.
The world is our oyster so what are we waiting for in order to make the change?
In the famous words of Mohandas Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in this world.”
