Heiystävät!Diadhaoibhachairde!Hellofriends!
Todayisanexcitingday,becauseitistodaythatIhaveachancetotellyoureadingthisrightnowabout anexperienceIamgreatlyexcitedtobeapartof,andonethatwillweaveintothefabricofwhoyouare, forever, should you apply! Naturally, you may think that Iʼm going to use this opportunity to try to convinceyoutojoinmyteamhereinthebeautifulTurku,butthatisnotmyobjective Today,Iwanttotell you about what learning experience you cancreateforyourselfandthosearoundyouatTurku2023,it wonʼtjustgothroughwhatIwishtoofferyouasfutureJuryMembersbutalsowhatpartyouwillhavein shapingthisstorytoo,becausethisisnotmyownvision,noranyHeadofJuryʼsvision,butavisionofa unitedJuryTeamwhichwillgrowanddevelop,asitsvisiondoes.Fromthere,whetheryoutakethenext stepandleapintothedeependofthisnewworldofadventure,storytellingandlearningisuptoyou.
WhatIwishtoofferyou
Twopeoplegiventhesametool,canuseitforwildlydifferentpurposes Evensomethingassimpleasan orangecanbeusedbyonefornourishmentandanothertocoverthegreenworldwithorangetrees Itcan be easy to jumptoconclusions,decidingthatoneusewaswiserthantheother,butwhatifthisorange was thelastmorseltoeatinanever-endingdesert?Therealityisthateveryonelearnsindifferentways andeveryoneapproachesthelearningopportunitiestheyreceiveindifferentwaysbecauseofthat.So,it ismyjobasHeadofJury,nottoputyoudownacertainpathoflearning,nortojudgeyoufortheoneyou take,butsimplytogiveyouthetoolsyouneedtoheaddowntheroadwhichisbestforyou.
IwillusetheexperiencesIhavebeensofortunatetohaveinEYPtocreatealearningenvironmentwhich isinnovative,funandaschallengingorrelaxed,andasrewarding,asyouwishittobe Therewillbeno moduleswhereItellyouwhatisredandwhatisblue,butinsteadoneswhereyoucanthroughyourown actionsdiscovertheanswersforyourself,andperhapssomuchmore.Iwilldelveintowhatthismeansin practice when I discuss what your role in the JuryTeamʼsstorywillbe,buttoputitsimply,myroleas Head of Jury, is, rather ironically, not to judge, but instead, to facilitate your learning, giving you everythingyouneedbeitinteractivelearningexperiences,beitencouragement,orbeitjustlisteningto yourthoughtsandsupportingyourever-development.
How*YOU*willshapeTurku2023
Ratherthantakethepathyouchoosealone,atthissession,youwillhavethechancetoshapethepath thattheJuryTeamasawholetakes,anddefinethroughwhichlenstheytransformtheveryfabricofthe session.Everydiscussionbeitaroundthewaywescoredelegates,beithowweintertwineempathyand equityintoourdecisions,beitwhatrolewetakeinthepersonaldevelopmentofdelegateswillbethat,a discussion,shareddecisionmakingandapproacheswehaveastakein,willbeacorepartoftheidentity of this Jury Team and a key part ofbuildingyourcharacterasaleader.AtTurku2023,youwillhaveto balancethetightropebetweenbeingassertiveaboutyourownthoughts,opinionsanddecisionsbutalso
betweenbeingopentotheideasofothers,developingyourconfidenceandstrengthtoshapetheteamʼs outcome,whilelearningthatcompromisecanbeapathtolearningfromtheexperienceandwisdomof others.
This does not apply to just discussions, everything will be partofthishorizontallearningmodelanda core component of it will be your pre-session training experience. Training is something I am deeply passionateaboutinEYPandIbelieveitisthemostimportantaspectofprovidingthesocial,knowledge and skill based foundations that you use to build your experience atthesessionon Togiveyousome practicalinsightsintowhatyourtrainingwilllooklike,Iwillbrieflydiscusssomeactivitiesyouwillbeable to participate inaspartofyourtrainingexperience.DuringTurku2023,youwillgettohavedeepmoral discussionsabouttheideaswehavearoundwhatthepurposeoftheJuryTeamisinEYP,whatisbiasand howcanwemitigateitinourJurying,whatisequity,whatdowewantourimpacttobeandmore,butwe willalsohavefunpracticalexperiencestoo,wherewetakeashowlikeFriendsandjudgethecharactersin anepisodeaccordingtotheJurycriteria,discoveringthedifferentapproaches,biasesandinterpretations wefindinafunnybondingexperience!Youwillgettopractisegivingusefulfeedbacktodelegatesina1-1 environment, experimenting with how you can bolster the positive learning experience of delegates Theseareonlyexamples,somuchmoreinteractiveexperiencescanandwillbecreated,basedonwhat youwanttogetoutofthissession,andwhatyouwishtoseeaspartofthissharedJuryTeam!
I do hope this gave you an insightintowhatyoucanexpecttoexperienceinTurku2023,andIwantto thankyouforreadingthis.Ifyouhaveanyquestionswhatsoever,pleasedoreachouttomeonanyofmy socialmediaaccounts,oralternativelyat+353851279725,oratjoshua.fitzgerald@eyp.ie
IcanʼtwaittoseewhatwecancreatetogetheratTurku2023!
Allthebest,yourfriend, JoshuaFitzGerald
HeadofJuryofTurku2023