 Media Credit: Courtesy of Nathaniel Whittemore Weinberg senior Danny Moldovan helps SESP sophomore Liz Ehly buy photos during the summit on Saturday. [Click to enlarge]
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By Day GreenbergThe Daily Northwestern
This weekend, college students from around the world flocked to Northwestern to learn from experts and from each other in the second International Youth Volunteerism Summit.
"It is not focused on awareness of issues, it's about building the capacity to engage in those issues," said Nathaniel Whittemore, a Weinberg '06 graduate who organized the first IYVS weekend in his senior year. "It involves thinking structurally, and it's focused on a process of change."
Fifty students from the U.S. and abroad attended this year's four-day summit, which focused on helping students develop their ideas for workable non-profit programs, said IYVS co-director Page Hubben.
From Thursday to Sunday, students attended workshops, small-group discussions and a career fair that brought 40 non-profit organizations to Norris. Students also had the opportunity to volunteer in Chicago.
"By the time everyone left (Sunday), everyone knew everyone else in the room, and that's a great feeling to leave with, to be able to actually remember every single person that's in the program," said Hubben, a Weinberg senior.
The young leaders who attended the summit have international experience in global health, education, finance, development, networking and working with children, said Medill freshman Alyssa Eisenstein.
"Because the summit happens to be at Northwestern, the Northwestern students had the great opportunity to learn and connect with fascinating young leaders from around the world," said Eisenstein, who worked on the press team for IYVS.
The weekend's events depended on the work of about 55 to 60 NU students. Staffing this "skill-building, knowledge-based" summit meant covering tasks like helping delegates fly into Chicago and setting them up in hotels or students' apartments.
Su Yuen Chin, a 20-year-old international delegate from Malaysia, said "it was worth my 23-hour flight. I can't really tell how good it is in words."
