The Abstract: November & December 2022
Happy Holidays! And what exciting times we’ve had at Youth STEM Matters. We can’t believe the year is over but we have lots of terrific news to fill you in on – like the new Executive Team and our newest Volunteer Team Members! In addition, Youth STEM Matters held another Journal Development Day where we talked about the impact we want to make and did lots of catching up and we can finally reveal the newest channel on our Slack workspace – social-tv-movies!
Before the year ends it’s time to introduce the team that will be guiding the journal's strategic development. Say hello to the new and first-ever Executive Youth STEM Matters Team! The Executive Team is made up of a whole range of skill sets and each person is sure to bring the best of them to their new role.
I’ve been waiting to see the executive team members ever since the new journal structure was announced! Here’s what team members had to say about their new role and what they are looking forward to in 2023…
“I’m really excited to be a part of the Youth STEM Matters Executive Team! I’m looking forward to working closely with everyone on the team and getting started with some teamwide projects. I hope by doing this, we will be able to improve the volunteering experience for all the volunteers and increase the impact Youth STEM Matters can have on young people. I have really enjoyed meeting everyone at Journal Development Day and getting involved with the social channels on Slack!”
“At first, the team seemed daunting and overwhelming but when I joined my first Zoom call with the rest of the team, I felt instantly welcomed and inflamed with excitement! I felt invited and understood. I know we can accomplish a lot with the passionate and dedicated team here at Youth STEM Matters. Moving forward, I can’t wait to work with the devoted and motivated Volunteer Team. I would like to delve deeper and make a bigger impact in STEM, seeking to solve the challenges that influence our daily lives. I hope to provide youth with a platform to make their voices heard and inspire them to take action on their dreams and create the world they want to live in.”
“Joining the Executive Team gave me goosebumps; I was super excited to be working with such an amazing group of young people. The role has been awesome so far, and I’m actively learning from the team too! I’m looking forward to engaging and knowing everyone within the larger team. Aside from bringing about the change we all want to see; I want to build change-makers. I’m really enjoying the movie channel!”
“I was ecstatic to start a new experience with a youthful team. I am definitely looking forward for all the meaningful bonds that will teach me more about myself and the world. I’m still exploring the role and hoping I can accomplish more in the upcoming days but I hope more youth are interested in science and sustainability because of me. I’m enjoying our executive team meetings, where we get to learn more about one another and work towards Youth STEM Matters!’”
“ was super excited to see who I would be working with and what we could do together. The new Exec Team has been great to work with - we’ve recently been doing a lot on getting to know each other more and finding out people’s strengths and weaknesses which has been really interesting. I hope to make a positive difference within Youth STEM Matters and the wider world, particularly in the technological area think doing the videos and transcriptions for our previous summits and conferences is great fun, and a good chance to re-watch some of the great speakers we had I’m currently working on a new volunteer and project tracking system, so I’m looking forward to being able to start testing it and then using it within Youth STEM Matters.”
“I was extremely surprised and mind blown with the diversity of the team and work culture. Being on the team is great! I’m looking forward to creating work that is actually delivered. I hope to start small with awareness and proceed towards driving change. My favourite channel has been the core opportunities.’”
“I felt honoured to be considered for the team and was really excited to see who else I’d be working with! I’m loving being an executive team member, it’s been especially fulfilling getting to know everyone as a person – it’s helped break the ice. Within the executive team, I’m definitely looking forward to working with such an incredible group of people and within the larger volunteer team, I hope we can create a lasting and sustainable impact. I would like to demystify STEM and create bridges with other disciplines. My stand out for this year has to be the social-tv-movies and being the project coordinator of Transcribe-athon.”
New Team Members
In the last edition, we announced interviews and decisions for team members and we're finally able to show you who these amazing new additions are! Here are some of their highlights and thoughts since joining the team; I have a feeling they’re going to be a spectacular addition to an already vibrant team.
“I was super excited and nervous at the same time. Working with like-minded people on various projects. I’m enjoying it thoroughly. It’s challenging and fun. I like the overall work environment. Specifically, the core opportunities channel because I took away a lot from it and also took part in some of the events.”
“When I first joined I was thrilled because of the team’s collaborative spirit, which is why I’m wholeheartedly looking forward to my first team-wide project. This diverse and friendly environment has helped me to feel more comfortable with my role. I am also enjoying the #core-article-ideas channel as I am always enthusiastic to explore new research topics.”
“I was very excited to be a part of the journal. I like contributing my time to good causes and I felt like I could do that here. I’m truly happy and honoured that I was considered. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone well and the events of 2023. I love the journal development days and other sessions with the rest of the team. I always leave them feeling super positive and motivated”
“I was thrilled to join the diverse team at Youth STEM Matters! I was a little anxious about starting but the friendly faces and nurturing community mitigated that pretty quickly! I am most looking forward to working with such passionate and driven people and working in teams to write articles to achieve this. The Journal Development Day and other meetings have been a great opportunity to meet other team members, especially with the new tradition of beginning calls with everyone saying their recent achievements. It’s been so great to hear how well everyone has been doing!”
“I was very excited to work with the team, especially since I had worked with the organisation many times before. I’m really enjoying it here! I’m most looking forward to reading people’s articles and learning more about different, interesting areas of STEM! The team is so kind and understanding. It’s been a very enriching experience to meet others and learn about their experiences & cultures! The social channels definitely help with that! Especially the social all team chat channel!”
“When I first joined the team I was overwhelmed and excited by the range of knowledge and culture that I was being exposed to. I’m most looking forward to meeting like-minded young people from around the world and hopefully contributing to the Youth STEM Matters journal. I am inspired by Youth STEM 2030’s commitment to working towards the UNSDGs. The team is very welcoming and are always motivating each other to be the best version of themselves. I recently attended the Science and the Parliament event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh as part of a team of volunteers. Our aim was to raise awareness of Youth STEM 2030’s mission by running a stall where we talked to the attendees about what we do. I really enjoyed this as I learned various new things about science and the world, while also getting to meet some of the other volunteers in person.”
Such a terrific new cohort of volunteers, I cannot wait to see them thrive and grow some more in 2023!
Journal Development Day
Youth STEM Matters held its 2nd Journal Development Day in November organised by the Youth STEM Matters Programme Officer Anne-Rosa Bilal. Before the live event resources and activities were shared to be completed. This allowed for the maximum contribution and interaction of volunteers on the day. One of those activities was the Identity Maps. This was by far my favourite activity; everyone had a chance to get very creative and it allowed us to explore each other’s interests!
Identity Maps were a creative and new way for the Volunteer Team to get to know one another! Instead of just telling others who we were - we could show them! In groups of 5, each person received around 5 minutes to ‘present’ their slide – but only to answer questions. Here’s what some of the volunteers had to say about the Identity Maps…
“Personally, I thought the identity maps gave you an opportunity to express not only your interests and hobbies, but also your personality through the means used to create your unique and individual map. The identity maps allowed the team to find common interests that they may have with each other. I thought it was a really important and enjoyable exercise as it allowed you to see the world through someone else’s eyes, as well as learning about different cultures.”
“I felt like the activity really brought out the diversity amongst teammates and really helped me realise that we have so much in common despite our different circumstances. The identity maps helped the team know each other on a much deeper level which helped us learn to trust each other more. They are important because they unite the team and give me a better insight on what my teammates are up to.”
Volunteers loved the use of the breakout rooms to problem-solve our next activity - to deconstruct why some STEM solutions may face barriers to implementation. This activity aimed to see problems and solutions holistically to avoid current solutions becoming future problems! To prepare for this the team watched 3 short videos each with a reflection question. Some of the challenges we looked at included infrastructure; legislation, governance & agreements; and accessibility. Here’s what the team had to say about the process…
“For me, this was one of the most enjoyable sessions at the JDD. This is because it gave me the opportunity to gain insights into the various challenges involved in implementing viable solutions in our diverse societies. Also, it broadened my scope of reality beyond my immediate environment. There were some problems mentioned by other team members that are not dominant in my community, however, they are still very important to consider for global applications. Summarily, this session was impactful and I believe it has helped to shape the minds of the members of Youth STEM Matters community towards the effect of lack of consideration of infrastructure, accessibility and legislation to implementation of STEM solutions to real-world challenges.”
The final highlight was the Mindfulness Refresher! An activity aimed to reflect on Youth STEM Matters and the people involved. We also asked what the team would like to see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Here are some highlights from the team…
“Incorporating mindfulness into remote gatherings like this helped me to feel connected with the other volunteers, as well as to clear away any mental chatter and make the most of our Journal Development Day.”
“The activity was a reflective one for me and was so much fun. I got to witness what others expect from YSM and how it was a lot relatable to mine and that’s YSM all about- working with like minded people! Altogether, it was a wholesome experience.”
The social-tv-movies Channel
This channel has been a brilliant addition to the workspace, livening up and broadening conversations around the SDGs. I was most excited to learn how this channel came to be and how it helps contribute to the conversation around SDGs. Lucky for us, Kavina was more than happy to let me in on her thought processes, here’s what she had to say…
“The channel first came to be when suggestions were asked for future social channels. The other reason can best be explained by one of my favourite quotes from the Dead Poets Society - “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” As someone who adores watching movies and being able to reflect on how art inspires us, I really wanted to create a space within Youth STEM Matters to connect with other volunteers who feel the same way. My goal with the channel has been to foster critical discussion of film and TV shows that explore the SDGs and STEM at large, and I think it’s been doing a fantastic job of achieving that so far! I’m grateful to have the space within this organisation to do so, whether that be through this channel or the lovely book club we also have running. It has also allowed me to connect with members of the team in novel ways, which is a phenomenal feeling.”
I wonder what some of the team has to say about the social-tv-movies channel…
“Next to books, movies have to be my favourite pastime. So, it’s nice to have a space to decipher and dissect them. My favourite post has to be the one about Inception. It really got us discussing what’s real and what reality means.”
“social-tv-movies has been my best social channel thus far. It’s really interesting how we all see and perceive things differently even for the same movie, and it’s been really nice getting different views on a subject matter. Stories are powerful, the fact that we learn a lot from movies have also been quite impressive, with each movie linking to the SDGs and several other positive qualities. Overall, the social TV movies channel has been a great bonding place at Youth STEM Matters and the conversations have been so interesting. Besides, who doesn’t like a good recommendation?”
“social-tv-movies is definitely the place to see fun and deeper philosophical meanings come together, especially through the discussions we have after a review. My favourite is probably Anne-Rosa’s review on Inception: that film takes sci-fi & the meaning of reality to the next level and reading everyone’s opinions gives lots of food for thought. It’s always nice to interact with fellow volunteers here at Youth STEM and this channel is no exception.”
“I really enjoyed being able to bond more with my peer volunteers- and having a chance to find movies and media recommendations that are in line with environmental issues and conservation! I loved being able to learn more about my coworkers and have a platform on which to have fun and bond to create a really welcoming working environment.”
Here's to an even more amazing 2023!
