Wydarzenia

Sobieski na Europejskim Parlamencie Młodzieży po raz czwarty! All about gathering momentum – EYP revealed.

Już po raz czwarty uczniowie Sobieskiego mieli możliwość wziąć udział w niezwykłym wydarzeniu, jakim jest Europejski Parlament Młodzieży.

Poniżej znajdziecie relację reprezentanta naszej szkoły oraz uczestnika Sesji Selekcyjnej w Trójmieście, a także Międzynarodowej Sesji w Hamburgu – Mateusza Wawrzyniaka z klasy 3me. Nasz przedstawiciel  z pozycji obserwatora przybliża istotę European Youth Parliament. Przedstawia również korzyści,  jakie daje EYP młodemu Europejczykowi oraz ujawnia, dlaczego  rola tego zgromadzenia we współczesnym świecie dla ogółu społeczeństwa, jaki i jednostki, jest znacząca.

 

Be a citizen not only for your country, but for Europe.
Have you ever thought about learning in a different way than just sitting at your desk ? Do you
seek learning interpersonal skills ? Do you enjoy healthy debate on topics that are of great importance in
modern days? And do all this while having fun with people from all over Europe? I’m aware that it might
sound too good to be true, but a place like this exists. European Youth Parliament. An organisation established
by  the youth, for youth to practice and broaden the horizons of new generations. I’m grateful to be a member
of EYP and I would like to share as much as I can with you about how it works, how it looks and
what’s in it for you.
The International session of EYP that I attended took place in Hamburg. Some friends of mine went
to Naples, Stockholm, Madrid or even Helsinki. Before every session, you get to choose what topic you
would like to cover. Of course you won’t be alone in working on it. I decided on picking ITRE – The
committee on Industry, Research and Energy , with problem of non-renewable energy sources. Other
commities work on topics such as legislative issues – JURI , Gender Equality – FEMM, Security and
Defence – SEDE, Development – DEVE, and many, many other. There is something for everyone. I was
really glad when I met my new committee: friendly, eccentric and most importantly, we all came here for
the same reason – to develop ourselves while having great amount of fun. Austrian, Swiss, Dutch,
Swedish, Ukrainian, Polish and yet we all got along with each other.
The first few days passed on getting to know each other, introducing our cultures, sharing stories and
finding common ground. The part I like the most is the Cultural Night, tasting food you never had idea of, grasping fancy meals
and sweets you can’t find in your local groceries. Experiencing new things always got to me, especially
when it comes to food.
After breaking the ice we knew what we were up to. Another few days were spent on
researching and understanding roots and possible solutions for our given problem. Some of us didn’t have
a clue about what we are dealing with, but it’s okay, we were all here to learn and to raise awareness on
our topic – and a good place to start is to be aware of yourself. We were discussing all possible angles of
approach, points of views, facts and listening to professionals’ opinions. After all that necessary effort we
created a resolution on our problem – stating, and solving it.
At that point, it was time for us to show and convince other commities on voting in favor of our
resolution. GA , which stands for General Assembly, is a final and most important part of every session.
Imagine a hall with 250 people sitting around, debating, convincing one another, making speeches, just like
in the parliament. The only slight difference is that, here you need to respect others’ opinions. We
present our resolution, underline most significant changes we would like to make. Friend of mine gives a
really persuasive speech. Every one of us has his own task. Mine is to defend our resolutions from
attack points made by other commities. It sounds harsh, but trust me, it is all a friendly and also very
exiting debate. We finish. Now it is time for voting. Votes are counted with a special online
platform, you can see results live on a huge screen behind the Board. For your resolution to pass, you
need the majority of votes in favor, which would make it more than 50%.
We did it. It passed b about 70%! Look, now I know it’s just a game, but after you spent 2 weeks
on writing a piece of resolution, you really start to care.

I wish I could tell you more about it, but this kind of experience can’t be fully explained. Foreign
friends, various cultures, loads of knowledge, boost in self-confidence – I could go on like this forever.
But one thing I’m certain about is that no matter what you may think of EYP, it’s worth giving a try. I
thought I would never make a speech for audience bigger than 10 people. Well, sometimes people can change…
Nevertheless, it was a great experience and if you want to try it out yourself, check the EYP website. Or you
can just ask me in the hallway, I will be happy to help.

Mateusz Wawrzyniak, kl 3me