While reflecting on my time as an ETA here in Belgium, I am overflowing with joyful memories from both in and out of the classroom. My time in Belgium has been filled with meaningful experiences and exchanges, one of my favorites being my time representing Fulbright Belgium in the sixth edition of the EU-US Young Leaders Seminar (YLS).
The three-day event, which was organized by the U.S. Department of State, Delegation of the European Union to the United States, the Fulbright Program, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, brought together 25 American and 25 European Young Leaders to discuss some of the most important issues facing both sides of the Atlantic. This year’s seminar topic was Active Civic Participation, focusing on its prominence and importance in every aspect of modern-day society.
Our first day of programming began with a welcome dinner for all of the participants. While I expected this event to be somewhat of a standard networking dinner, I quickly realized this seminar was going to be anything but standard. The seven other participants sitting at my table greeted me with so much warmth and kindness, and we all seemed to bond almost instantly. As we went around the table, sharing more about our backgrounds and what brought us to the seminar, I felt so in awe of the people sitting around me. Their passion for their respective projects, ranging from establishing cultural sensitivity training for professionals in healthcare to qualitative studies on the experiences of female Afghan refugees in Europe, truly moved me. As if the dynamic conversation with the participants at my table were not enough, the Chair of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board also joined our welcome dinner and gave some opening remarks which filled us all with excitement for the rest of the seminar.
Pictured: Isabella (Left) and Sophie (Right) speaking with Donna Brazile (Bottom).
The following days of the seminar were packed with an all-star panel of inspiring personalities from varying careers and perspectives. Together they tackled major topics in the field of civic engagement such as how to promote social cohesion in polarized societies and the role education plays in fostering civic engagement in democracies. One of my favorite panels had us listen to the moving journeys of two young activists who discussed the stories/experiences that motivated them to engage in activism and the roles activists play in affecting transformative change in civil society.
Following these panels, participants entered breakout groups where we discussed the future of active civic participation as an asset in peace and security, environmental sustainability, technological innovation, and human rights. I was so inspired and enriched by the discussions had in these breakout groups, as well as by the moving conversations had with leaders in democracy and civic engagement who served as panelists for this seminar.
The seminar ended with final remarks by strategist and former interim National Chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile, who reminded us that democracy is a verb, not a noun – my time in Belgium has shown me just how true this statement is.
I have seen this truth in the intentionality and fervor of my YLS peers in cultivating our transatlantic partnerships, in the passion and empathy of my colleagues at Université Saint-Louis, in the character of my bright and driven students, and in the hearts of my amazing Fulbright cohort who I have been doing life with these past few months.
I left this seminar the same way I am leaving my Fulbright experience: inspired and full of hope for the future.
If these young leaders are any reflection of what lies ahead, we are all in such compassionate and capable hands.
Isabella Castro is a 2022-2023 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Belgium. In 2022, she earned her bachelor’s degree in International and Global Studies with minors in French and Diplomacy from the University of Central Florida. Isabella is a 2022 Charles B. Rangel Fellow and aspires to a career as a Foreign Service Officer. She speaks Spanish, French, and Quechua. In addition to her work inside the classroom as an ETA, she is eager to increase her proficiency in French and Dutch and engages with the community through a volunteer position with refugee and immigrant students.
Articles are written by Fulbright grantees and do not reflect the opinions of the Fulbright Commission, the grantees’ host institutions, or the U.S. Department of State.