YES ... CIV-ED Week is inspiring!

Civic Education Week Experience - Mohammad Issa Jamal

My name is Mohamad Issa Jamal, YES alumnus from the exchange year 2007-2008 from Lebanon, and I was one of the three YES alumni mentors at the Civic Education Week workshop this February. The Civic Education Week Workshop was an amazing experience. I’ve learned a lot, met so many amazing people, and shared my experience as a YES alumnus with 100 soon-to-be YES alumni.

I had two things in mind. First, I wanted to represent my country and my YES alumni network properly. Being the first Lebanese chosen to mentor at CEW was both an honor and responsibility. The YES alumni network in Lebanon is one of the most active worldwide, so I made sure to highlight our most distinctive accomplishments for the past 15 years. I had the opportunity to present for the 100 students, the Department of State, and American Councils. I was really happy of the amazing feedback and how impressed everyone was with what we’ve done so far. I also answered questions the different audiences had in mind about our work as YES alumni. Moreover, I had the opportunity of sharing my success story with members of the Congress and the Senate. This was the highlight of my CEW experience because I felt how proud these Congressmen and Senators were and their support for the YES program was something they believed in and our stories were the validation for that.

Second, I wanted to be a source of inspiration for the upcoming generation of YES alumni. Being one of the most active alumni back in Lebanon was definitely a criterion to be chosen as a CEW YES alumni mentor, so I wanted to use the opportunity to share my record of accomplishments with the students hoping it will inspire them to be the leaders and change makers back in their home communities. The students were amazing and had promising ideas a lot to ask which was great to me. The feedback I received from the students was exactly what I was hoping for. “Thank you for inspiring us” and “We promise you to make you proud and be active in our home countries” are two of the most frequent things the students have shared with me, and at that moment, I knew my mission was accomplished.

To wrap up, the CEW experience was a turning point in my YES journey, one that I will not forget. Not only did I represent my country and inspired an upcoming generation of YES alumni, but also I was inspired a lot. These students had the passion and the drive to inspire nations, and I have to say that the future will be great with future leaders like these students.

To know more about Mohammad's experience, click on the following link: