In the year 2020, My 2 friends and I co-founded an organization called You4ia that aims to elevate the lifestyle of people from lesser privileged communities by providing them necessary amenities and opportunities for education. Being a 16-year-old with an altruistic vision towards the initiative, it was difficult to make people believe in our goals and identify us as changemakers. From collecting sufficient funds for organizing a donation drive to conducting classes for the children, I felt proud of the lucrative results our time, effort, and most importantly, an impenetrable vision had retrieved. However, the journey was not a piece of cake. Several emails written calls made, and posts designed took a large chunk of our day. There were times when we never heard back from the organizations we asked to volunteer for. While utilizing my time towards the initiative made me feel gratified, it was demanding to sustain my efforts and be available at all times. The need to constantly stand out ingeniously and somehow make this project successful was nagging me. Thus, I learned to cope up with the stress and move at a steadier pace, making every facet of our aim bind together slowly yet foundationally secure.
But, at the end of the day, we knew that it was the good intentions, efforts, and support from our families that mattered. From this journey, the lesson that I learned is that change doesn't mean a big impact on society. Change is not necessarily to be known by all. It is to be felt from within, knowing that your efforts are not going in vain. When starting an organization, the name on a newspaper or recognition on social media is not a validation for making 'change', but doing something wholeheartedly is. Change always comes from within oneself and is recognized by someone, but that 'someone is not necessarily everyone around us. The only one to prove for change is oneself as he or she is the only one who has put the effort required for making one. The initial underpinning was tough yet rewarding. Receiving more than expected and sometimes experiencing ambivalent thoughts more than anticipated, this journey etched a waged chord that kept ringing even through wavering times. Every change is a change irrespective of big or small and for oneself or others. Let us celebrate every change or an effort for change
around us as it takes place right now...