BYM Experience

BYM 1st Day
Having never been to Sydney in the past 10years, I make my way to Maquarie Uni with ample time just in case I get lost. 6:30am on a Sunday morning. Toongabbie station is empty. I pass the overbridge and enter platform 3 &4. I was relatively cool, with the entire journey as I had it planned out for me via an website (equivalent of viclink). However being the sole person on the station did shake me a little as I purchased my travel pass from the machine.
Throughout the week I constantly compared NSW transport to Victoria. If there was one thing I’d criticise about NSW, it’s these bulky ticket machines. No wonder they were advertising and promoting everyone to buy 14day travel passes and what not, as the ques for just using these machines were humungous. It was an absolute frustration to be expected to enter both the destination and the departure place and then realise that you took too long. I would imagine it to be a nightmare for tourists. It would have been such a friendly gesture to see human assistance. But I later reasoned this was not practical Sunday morning at 6:30am. And as I later encountered, NSW have much more staffed stations and trains in contrast to Melbourne. Especially, the guards on NSW trains, make even after hour journeys absolutely safe.
Without any further ado, I successfully changed lines at Strathfield and made it to Epping. It was a pleasure to meet other fellow BYM delegates at the bus stop. We identified each other with the reasoning that no one else would be up so early on a weekend.
Without no major hiccups in finding the place, I was one of the first 3 who had arrived. The volunteers first words were, ‘ We didn’t expect you to arrive so early’. It must have been only a few us who took the 8am start so literally.
We huddled in groups shivering in the large greyness of an indoor courtyard where we were to spend the next five days. Small chatter was exchanged, and it was pretty obvious all of us had no clue what to expect. What were we actually doing here? Someone even suspected it to be an elaborate scam.
The 99 other faces daunted me. I wasn’t sure if I really fitted in as one of the 100 brightest minds in Australia. Josh the executive of the BYM explained in his opening speech explained that they had carefully scrutinised each person, and that we all belonged here. Yet the reality was that he was speaking to some of the brightest minds, and we were all a bit reluctant to buy his words.
We then entered a small squashed lecture theatre which was unusually warm in contrast to the freezing courtyard. There, we were introduced to our facilitator, Hue Ivans. Just an introduction about this amazing person had us gripping the edges of our seats. He was truly one incredible person. Young Australian of the year, and the recipient to many prestigious awards, and having recently chaired the 2020 youth summit, we were incredibly privileged to have him facilitate the BYM. One thing I especially regret is a missed opportunity to talk to him. He seemed one of us, young and crazy and at the same time he was so high profile. He and I share one thing in common. We both are studying/studied Science/Law.

We then dispersed out the lecture theatre back into the courtyard for morning tea and gossip. Over the next few days the food only got better and better. A brilliant job done by the caterers.
Global cafe was our next activity. It involved sitting in groups of three and discussing some magnificent open ended questions. By the end of the rotations and discussions, we had met about 20 different people, became a aware of a dozen ethnicities, and unravelled a large thread of issues. A number of people addressed the group at large, I didn’t. I’m not one to fear public speaking, but being in a group of 100 people, where I wasn’t sure if I really fitted was very nerve racking. So I chose to observe and learn. The talent and brains some of these people had was simply awesome. The energy was even more inspiring. Everyone was raving to get started. It quickly became obvious to me that I lacked the experience and knowledge that most of these people had. This could be justified as I was the second youngest delegate. Nevertheless, this motivated me to learn and read more. Ignorance is a curse. My world was so small before I went to the BYM. It’s opened so many folds now.
Somewhere during the day we had a speaker from Oaktree. Her name was Rachael. A brilliant speaker. She made us understand that vision needs to demand action. Other really good points mades in her speech included the importance of decentralising power, and ensuring there is collaboration and support. Her striking quote was ‘Obama means no drama’.
Out of the 100 delegates, all were special, but some especially stood out. Karan Singh, an Indian Australian astounded me. He possessed more knowledge then I’d probably know in 10years . And the way he expressed himself was sensational. Risal was another interesting character. The sole reason he pondered me was because he was an affluent and rich child brought up in Bangladesh.(well he seemed to be so..Apologies for any misrepresentations) Yet he was very socially responsible. It surprised me that against the generalisations we have of rich people in 3rd world countries, there are those who can be so aware and proactive in their own needy communities. Sara was a classic character. Her passion for feminist issues blew me away. Tiara had the personality to attract. Sarah Emery had the energy of a 100. Kalpana moved me immensely by just a few words. Dan was a bag of mixed goodies. Rosie was a person of warmth. Michelle was the figure of serenity. There were so many other people I’ve failed to mention that caught my attention, that made me admire them, laugh, smile and cherish the moments I had with them. On the educational side, I became more socially aware and responsible by meeting such a diverse group of individuals.
I loved to observed Hue Ivans subtle reactions throughout the BYM. It was amazing how he had slight nuances, which made me ponder and make assumptions of his character. He was a born leader, no doubt about that. But I also noted he was had a certain ability to attract power and attention. He has very profound views backed by clearly thought out ideas. There is potential and energy within him to create a new earth. And fuelled with his passion I suspect we’ll be seeing him in politics very soon.
With lunch completed, the day’s activities took a new dimension. It was time to sell our ideas. Ideas included everything from languages to bicycles to child soldiers. The world is commercialised, even our great ideas had to be sold to the other 100 delegates. Some interesting, on the spot campaigns arose, while some others were more content to let their ideas speak for them. The big board quickly filled and 60 ideas were tempting us. 6 ideas in an open space session, the decision would be ours to attend one of those six. 10 such open space sessions of discussion were to follow in the next 2 days.
The day ended with spirit. We had a barbeque dinner and gossip prevailed. The crowds slowly dispersed as we made our ways to different corners of Sydney to rest after the first eventful day.
Second Day
Having thought the first day was hassle free, the second day was in stark contrast. I managed to catch an express train that failed to stop at Strathfield and ended up in the city. Stuck in peak hour traffic without a clue how to get to the bus stop, I was very lost. Eventually I boarded a bus and arrived 2hours late, missing Hue Ivans speech and part of the first open space session.
I marvel at Sydney transport. They have double decker trains, a guard on all trains, a thousand different lines going of on tangents and yet still they don’t have enough space for the people. It amazes me how they can still run on a loss.
The first open space session involved us picking an issue out of the numerous ideas stuck up in that time slot. One hour was given for discussion and explanation of the concepts. The whole day involved a number of these sessions. It was very full on and absolutely essential. The issues I picked involved a cosmopolitan media project, languages and encouraging bilingualism, a network to connect entrepreneurs with charity organisations, ways to eradicate poverty, and affordable housing.
At the end of the day we concluded with a speech from the windchime group. After a big day, most of it was incredibly hard to digest. But I do recall the speakers stating that any model should not be linear, rather be extremely dynamic to cater for unexpected incidents.
From there we left as a group to Lend lease, a fully sustainable building with 5star rating. It was very nicely built with a limestone wall on one entire side.
I’d never been in such a networking atmosphere before and tended to hang around the same group. Only later did I realise that in such networking opportunities you should never stay with one person more than half an hour. Somehow talking to Dan, an amazing personality, allowed us to interact with a representative from lend lease, who took take us on a tour of the building. Something that I found unique was the open offices which also included the CEO. It might get quite loud, but I suppose it’s less intimidating.
Again the transport impressed me as I left at 10 and still managed to have a train within 5minutes.
3rd Day
The day kicked of with a couple more open space sessions in the morning. Then it was time to vote down the best eight. We had one minute to present our idea to the group. Anything more was drowned out by the music that Hue happened to choose. A few last minute ideas such as Vegetarianism were also presented. I helped Esther with her project. Wanted to go first and we just happened to be picked last. Some presentations were spectacular and really got us wanting to join their group. Mostly though we were really confused and the three stars(number of votes for each person) were insufficient. Prior to the voting we had a speaker from Maquarie uni. She is professor and advocate for climate change action. Her speech was very motivational. ‘We are committed to a trajectory of climate change’ was her core message.Too bad her speech wasn’t earlier. We may have ended up with more climate change issues in the top 8. There was no group that really focussed on that issue. What was the reason? Maybe because the timing of the speaker was not earlier, or we felt the issue is already being handled. Not sure.
The day concluded with some hacky sack games, music, and party food. Good fun. Took the bus and train with Lauren, and came home to more talk.
4th Day.
Absolute action packed day. We had a speaker in the morning. They were from an initiative called the Street University. It was amazing listening to their story of how they overcame their hurdles to set up the street uni in Liverpool. Matt, the speaker told us some classic lines such as ‘I’m good by default.’ His positive attitude about today’s generation was very welcoming. ‘We’re more capable than our parents...our generation cannot focus on a single discipline’ Other awesome quotes were ‘do not waste your time with simple questions’, ‘denial ain’t no river in Egypt’. ‘Harness your own inner capacity...If you’ve built castles in the sky, don’t worry, just build the foundation beneath it.’
The rest of the day was to develop the 8 ideas. So much happened in this day that I could write a thesis on it. So in short;

Initially I thought ‘Wow a whole day, that’s an immense amount of time’. But once we got cracking, it was starkingly clear that the there was so much to be done in such a short space of time. Within our group, we all had the goal of empowering and integrating refugees within community. However we had to agree on common pathway to achieve this, and hence triggering the discussions of what our vision statements and missions were. Getting this done involved overcoming difference of opinions and at times was quite effortful. However with the aid of our ever faithful facilitator Sara, and Sarah Emery with her drama inspirations, our hurdles were overcome with minor difficulties. WE smiled in the praises of Josh who informed us we were very organised. The day finished at 1-2am for many. The pizza’s were comforting. But even better was the hospitality offered by Ali, to the lucky few us, who escaped the stress, to be welcomed by the ever loving Afghan family. The spinach curry I had is one of the best that I’ve ever had.
Somewhere during the 4days we also had David Peso talk to us. He was Australian of the year. Something unique about him was that he was very proud about being an orphan. Another interesting fact is that at 18 he changed his name and became a whole new person. His speech was mainly about micro –incentives in the 3rd world. He claimed that ‘people who create jobs are entrepreneurs, not governments’. Aspects I didn’t understand too well in his speech were why microcredit was different to micro enterprise. I liked his ideas of ‘no donations but empowerment.’ This was backed up by his reasoning that cheaper finance will drive further debts and create a debt culture. He finished by saying ‘never look back’. I don’t think he has ever.
Hue also gave a number of motivational informative speeches over the five few days. ‘Power, sex and money sell.’ ‘Greater your impact, greater the challenge’. `Concentrate on personality based leadership, focussing on form over substance. Some distracters in achieving your mission include being too controlling, lack of commitment, lack of attention to detail’. Another thing was also very interesting; He told us that if you want a good executive team, do not determine it by voting. He left us with the following words ‘Better we be criticised than have no impact, if you cannot lead yourself, you cannot lead others’.
I’ve forgotten about another speaker as well. She’s a colour analyst I think. A very controversial speech was presented by her. While in context ‘ if you’re a women, you got to put a man at ease’ made sense, I found it very hard to digest. Seeing her talk, made me detest the corporate world. But she was a very good speaker, and very engaging. Stripping down to make her point more vivd took me by surprise. It takes 52 seconds to make your first impression. And 27 other meetings are required to remove the effect of one bad impression. Iyooda....Im doomed i suppose. There was a lot of substance in her speech. I may write a whole separate blog on just what I thought of her speech.

5th Day
Arise and shine for the fifth and final day of BYM. It was to my pleasure that we had a late start. Gave me some time to catch up with the people I stayed with. It was also a relief, well I thought it was anyway, till I saw the crowded state of the trains, that I wouldn’t need to change lines. I’m used to single decker trains getting crowded in Melbourne, but when it was a double decker train getting so packed you had no space to breathe, it was extra uncomfortable.
But getting of at Circular Quay was indeed a welcome surprise. It completely took me by surprise that as I go of the train, I was facing the harbour. The majestic opera house and Sydney harbour bridge were in magnificent view. This wasn’t the only view I had of the harbour. The entire morning on the 35thlevel of McKenzies floor enthralled us with this view.
The morning was a live feedback session. After the numerous times I’ve completed a feedback form, for the very first time, I encountered a session where as with the ideas, feedback bounced and reflected others comments, and was very effective. Incredible comments were made. What Kalpana said about making sure we love our family and never forget their love in the midst of our own pursuits was deeply moving. As was the other beautiful, constructive, critical comments posed by the other delegates. I was glad I finally took the opportunity to express half my entire thoughts about the opportunity.
We had a speaker from last year’s BYM talk to us about where we go from now and another speaker who was on the selection panel for the 100 BYM delegates. I was wondering what he thought of my pathetic interview. Somehow I was better than the other 100 who did not make it past the interview.
Then it was time for us to work finetune our presentations and di nay last minute corrections. The eight ideas were going to be presented to Corporates at the Westpac that evening. It was important to make a good impression to them, as they were inevitably going to sponsor our causes. We were reminded numerous times to arrive on time. In our group, we still had to do the power points and put everything together. At 5:30 we were still putting the power points together. But we weren’t stressed as we were a group, and together we could achieve anything. Camera’s were happily clicking and we were in festive mood.
The welcome at Westpac was very formal and official, but nothing unexpected. The big long stairs, the fast lifts, large ceilings and winding corridors really set the scene for a corporate environment. A number of special guests applauded us, as our 8 issues were presented. I couldn’t believe how much all the 8 ideas had evolved over the course of one day. The last time I heard about each issue in the one minute presentation, they were barely sprouting. On the other hand, the ideas presented at the evening, were fledging plants, that couldn’t wait to be transformed into trees. It was my deep regret that I left before it was announced which group received the 3000dollars grant. At least I was fortunate to see all 8 presentations.
The following day.
My flight was the following morning at 8:30. Walking around the airport, a sense of sadness kicked in. But I was excited nevertheless. Over the period of 5 intense days, I had been exposed to so many different people. I’d learnt so many things that over a year’s period I would not have been experienced in my day to day life. It was truly once in a life time opportunity. It taught me that my dreams were not only dreams but could become a reality. It gave me platform to launch my ideas, motives and many more subtle things. To simply observe the more affluent and incredible people was an opportunity in itself. I know that I’ll miss the intense atmosphere of the BYM, the five days of passionate energy, but our combined spirits will not die down.
It is now 3weeks post BYM, so much is happening, that it is nearly as overwhelming as the BYM itself. Keep up the great work BYM team. We hundred delegates of ’08 will not only be the future prime-ministers actors, leaders, professionals, but today’s revolutionists, creators, activists and most importantly youth! My heart extends to the BYM executive team for a tremendous job well done.