Hey, I’m the coms intern.

For International Youth Day, I was asked to write a little message for the fellow youth to which my only thought was: ‘Are you sure? Are you really sure?’ but I was given the green light to dispense my not-so-wise-words of wisdom so here it goes: you’re allowed chase that bubbling feeling in your chest. 

Absurd notion to live by, I’m aware, but hear me out. Coming out of university, feeling overwhelmed by the future, ignoring illogical passions and joining the corporate world feels like a safe step forward to financial independence. It’s easy to forget that this is corporate; where success, not effort, is rewarded – the scramble and sacrifice will not be compensated. All it really takes is a month for life to taste like plain oatmeal, but all it takes is one cool experience to remember it’s actually a treat. 

To my young audience: what’s fun for you? To my older audience: Are you having fun? 

During my time at the MBZ fund, I have found my answer to that question to be yes. Better yet, the fund has allowed me, through my strange little obsession of stories and words, to support others who would also answer that question with a yes. 

People like Joseph Mboya in Tanzania, who fight for the survival of one of the best frogs, Hansen’s Warty Frog (Callulina hanseni) and the lush forest of the South Nguru Mountains it calls home. 

People like María Lina Rinaldi García, who walk under a clear night sky with eyes and ears open for the endangered Pampas cats in Argentina, stopping clashes with local farmers and traffic.  

People like Wahyuni Wahyuni, who dive into Lake Poso for the Corbicula possoensis, and take the community by the hand, showing them why and how to coexist for a sustainable future, fighting back against the private PT. Poso Energy sector to save the habitat.  

I envy people like that. Not the mosquito bites, but the unbridled passion and the heart-pounding embrace of what it means to be human: curious, and nothing short of kind. It’s safe to say I’ll be refusing to let my only joys in life be the numbers on my pay cheque and sleeping in on a Saturday. 

On this International Youth Day, I, a fresh-faced 22-year-old, would like to remind my fellow youth that there is nothing within the social contract that says we have to be dead inside.