In celebration of our 30th anniversary, we asked a former YRE student to share some reflections on how the programme supported her aspirations and goals.
I gained confidence - from writing news in my local community, YRE believed in me enough to give me an award. As a young journalist there is nothing more powerful than having people who believe in your work and support you. This made me seriously continue writing throughout university and eventually allowed me to go to COP23 with YRE. YRE gave, what felt like my hobby, a sense of legitimacy and importance, and it pushed me to continue working harder. YRE essentially told me - your work matters, please continue doing it
“YRE essentially told me - your work matters, please continue doing it!”
YRE also gave me the skills to be a journalist. I never went to journalism school! Thanks to programming and workshops, I learned how to report on stories on-the-ground - how to interview, write, edit, and work with others.
YRE also gave me a beautiful, international community. Reporting on the environment can be difficult and lonely, given the state of the world.
But I was always inspired to learn about the work happening around the world through the eyes of other YRE.
It was also so beautiful to share cultural values and gain perspectives about our environment I never would have otherwise.
Allison Gacad is a former YRE participant and is now working in climate journalism as a correspondence for Carbon Pulse, where she covers carbon policy, clima-tech and policy.