By Naim Laeni, YES 2008-2009, Thailand, hosted by PAX in Bennington, VT

This is my story, of how my experiences with the YES program introduced me to the world. I often think of my life journey in the following three stages: hear about the world, get to know the world and change the world, and I owe a lot of this journey to the YES program.

'Hear about the world' 

Before the YES program, I was a high school student who lived in the southernmost  part of Thailand, where violence and conflicts are common. What little knowledge I had of the world was limited to a picture in my imagination of New York as a fancy place with skyscrapers. Then an English teacher changed my course; he was from Canada, and hearing about the world from him motivated me to work hard in order to get the chance to study in the United States. He helped me realize that only through education and development, would I be able to bring peace to my home community.

'Get to know the world' 

In 2008, I got my chance to study in the U.S. as a YES student from AFS Thailand. I arrived in my host state, Vermont, with almost no knowledge about the Green Mountain State. It hadn’t even occurred to me that my first step in ‘getting to know the world’ would be led by my host family, friends and teachers in Bennington, Vermont, but that is exactly what happened. I learned the value of living with others who have different cultures, and doing so with mutual respect. I tried to reach out and engage with people in my host town to teach them about Islam. I gave presentations and had dialogues with many people on the concept of peace; I even gave a speech at a church on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. As with any exchange, I also learned a lot; from my host family, I learned the value of environmental conservation, music and community engagement. By the end of the year, I realized that this one-year experience in the United States had not only given me a chance to understand the world, but had also given me the opportunity to share my story with a small group of people who live on the other side of the world.

'Change the world'

The notion to 'change the world' may sound far-fetched, but I believe that individuals can be agents of change by inspiring others, and thereby, creating ripples in society. My enthusiasm to understand more about world conflicts, cooperation and development led me to study Political Science in International Relations at Thammasat University. While in university, I was the president of the Thammasat Speakers’ Union, the university’s debate club. This club helped me develop the critical thinking skills and public speaking skills needed to debate and discuss various social issues in society. In addition to studying and debating, I continued to actively participate in the YES alumni community; in fact, I helped establish YES Thai Alumni (YESTA), a YES alumni community in Thailand. Through YESTA, I designed activities for youth camps that occurred in various provinces in Thailand. 

After graduating, I began to work at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, an Asian-based international development organization. I worked on projects aimed to protect communities in Thailand from flooding. After six months there, I took another job, and became an Information Analyst at the United Nations Country Team in Thailand. I hope that my perspectives on world politics and knowledge about current affairs, particularly about conflict situations in Thailand, will contribute to development activities with the United Nations in Thailand. 

As a YES alumnus, I am grateful for the connections the YES program has provided for me, to help me better understand the world, and give me the tools to be able to contribute to the world’s development. Now that I am at this young professional stage, I want to help other YES alumni learn the skills to effectively work to help their communities through service. Another goal of mine is to share opportunities for education with students in underserved communities, particularly from my home in the deep south. I want to let them know that they too can go from ‘hearing about the world” to “changing the world.”