On the Road and Under the Lights

Photo by Annie Conzemius 

by Shelsea

When you have been riding and riding, and riding and riding, tumbling wheels like tumble weeds through deserts, past agave fields, soaring up and down and across Mexico like it’s a dream, you must be careful not to lose yourself.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that my life is not imaginary. That this is not some tiny model of Mexico that I am riding my hotwheel-sized little toy van across. In my little snow globe world, even Mexico is tiny and everyone I pass becomes the next door neighbor.

Last week, the Education team and I at Up With People did a youth forum for Tech De Monterrey in the city of Toluca, located just east of Mexico City. Tech de Monterrey is one of the most renouned universities in the country, and all of the high class citizens send their children there, and then brag about them over brunch. These students were a perfect match for us: they spoke English, they had international awareness (most of them had traveled at least to Europe if not many other places), and they could afford to travel with us if they wanted to.

The Youth Forum was a government simulation. The concept was that if all of the 19 countries we had represented were to become one country. The students took on the roles of political parties, citizens, and media, and we conducted a mock campaign to elect the next political party.

I was astounded by the comments made by the students. Some hot topics discussed included gay rights, abortion, prostitution, and the most popular topic, the environment. All of the students we heard from believed that gay people should be allowed to be married. Many of them thought that gay people should not be allowed to adopt because it could damage the child. Most of them believed that abortion should be legal in out hypothetical country.

I found it so fascinating to hear these young adults speaking so passionately about topics that are so controversial in such a Catholic community as in Mexico. I wondered what the generation before them would have thought about these topics. I wondered if they would have felt safe enough to share their opinions.

We conducted the forum two times in one day, reaching out to 600 participants. Both times, the environmental party won. The other competing parties were personal freedoms, economy, healthcare, and international relations. By the end of the forum, I felt refreshed, with a new awareness that things are changing. I am excited to see the potential of this generation come to fruition in the coming years. For a girl who has seen her fair share of destruction and poverty, her fair share of need in the world, it is so inspiring to see that shiny glimmer of hope that lies within the hands of today’s youth. 

Thank you Tech De Monterrey Metepec and Toluca for inspiring a girl who hopes to never become jaded and for reminding her of deep sense of humanity that rests in every pocket of our world.