THE WAY: A celebration of youth

Brac University, in collaboration with BRAC, hosted an inspiring day of dialogue and exchange on youth leadership and resilience in the 21st century titled “THE WAY” where participants had shown up from more than 10 universities. The event was also made successful with the help of Brac University Debate Club (BUDC), Brac University Response Team (BURT), Brac University Film Club (BUFC), Brac University Community Service Club (BUCSC), Brac University Robotics Club (ROBU), Brac University Art and Photography Society (BUAPS) and Brac University Environment Club (BUEnC). The event took off as Asif Saleh (Executive Director, BRAC) entered the stage, reflecting on his journey of activism and leadership. Moutushi Kabir (Senior Director People, Culture and Communications, BRAC) then spoke on BRAC’s vision to invest in future generations, followed by Professor Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar (Vice Chancellor, BracU) who stressed education as the anchor for youth leadership. 

While the event took place, the youth expressed their visions and struggles on a big canvas through colours, coordinated by BUAPS. Then in the Sparktalk session, Shahriar Fahim (Amra Notun Network alumni) shared his journey of empowering disability with his social enterprise Jotner Dokan. Following it, Bagerhat’s Mahinur’s story of overcoming several odds from childhood, echoed the same theme: resilience isn’t pretty, but it works. After that the plenary session, hosted by BUDC, unpacked employment, gender, and environmental hurdles. The discussants included Tanjid Hassan (CBO, The Daily Star), Nishat Anjum Palka (CEO, Mommy Kidz) and Bashira Harun (Chairman, It’s Humanity Foundation). Meanwhile throughout the day, two voxpop videos were shown, created by BracU Express, where the challenges of the youth and their aspirations were highlighted.

Simultaneously in the multipurpose hall (MPH), the human library encapsulated stories of resilience. Zarin Tasnim’s story of going beyond limitations of standing by people, Arafat Hossain’s journey of nurturing hopes and dreams by building a public library, Monowara Khatun who overcame her own adversaries to now guide others on their path and of course Kazi Raimul Hasan who stood against the autocrat last year, losing his leg but holding onto perseverance as such. In the MPH, various booths were also set up where BUCSC, BUEnC and ROBU along with other entities from BRAC, showcased their projects to the enthusiastic visitors.

After the lunch break the singing performance of the Ghaashphoring choir made the atmosphere lively in the auditorium. Moving on with positive energy, the Meka team presented an interesting presentation on the consumption of news that distracts people from the real issues. Then there was an interactive game session where the participating teams had to provide solutions for a social problem. At the closing stage the screening of films orchestrated by youth including Beyond the Brush: A Nation’s Awakening, an interview-based documentary about the events of July 24 and Little Miss Sunshine, a film about family took place.

The day reminded us that the power of youth goes beyond our everyday struggles. Embracing struggles makes us resilient. And in that resilience lies a quiet strength, one that does not shout, but builds, heals, and carries forward the promise of a better tomorrow.