Is it not interesting how the light around us changes toward the beginning of September and the way the temperature cools off a little as we begin the journey toward the end of summer. The dog days of summer indeed! It also happens to be the same time that our younger generations kick off the new school year, which also coincides with the Rotary theme for September, which is Basic Education and Literacy month.
The gift of education is truly the most vital benefit that we can afford to provide for our youth, especially in a world, where the ability to think critically and reason are becoming vital tools for securing economic mobility in our rapidly changing world. This is why it is a joy to see so many clubs focus their efforts on activities that help support students with scholarship or reading programs to help develop the curiosity of the youth within our area.
An educated society is one that leads to prosperity, especially when we can help young people find their passion for lifelong learning. Rotarians across our district find this calling particularly inspiring and I am sure the same goes within your own clubs. I hope you can find ways to celebrate their achievements through your club’s activities.
Although scholarship and educational programs are important for basic education and literacy, there are other ways we can help to support our students. Life experiences are an excellent way to bring their education to life with the benefit of learning from the environment around them. This is why it is vital for us to continue to support youth exchange and leadership development programs that we offer with RYE and RYLA. These help us layer on the critical tools offered by soft skills to help our youth navigate their paths and develop resilience, coupled with lifelong friendships, to help them succeed in their respective journeys.
In fact, it is not just Rotary experiences that matter. It is also the gift of time that we can provide to those younger members of our community, where we can offer them guidance and experiences to help them learn from the wisdom that our Rotarians can bring to the conversation or activity. In my own way, I try to do this with the internships we offer via my company, where we want to develop the next generation of technologists to become capable professionals. I also try to undertake an annual climbing trip with my goddaughter, where we increasingly develop her skills to deal with climbing increasingly advanced and difficult mountains, enabling her to develop tools for coping with these challenges – ultimately, skills that she can bring to use in her own personal and professional experiences.
As people of action, we have a duty to look beyond our immediate club and the valuable services it provides to support basic education and literacy. We should seek other ways that we can expand on these two vital themes to develop our next generation with our experiences, time, and guidance. In return, we will benefit from building new relationships and new perspectives that one gets when taking the time to look at the world with the eyes of our youth. Rest assured their views are often more enlightened and optimistic about the future.
In many ways, this is how we can create hope in the world, when we combine our wisdom with our youth’s passion for what the future represents; ultimately knowing that it is all underpinned by education and experiences to support this learning. I can only imagine that this path leads to amazing opportunities for us all!
