I have to change the world.

Why do I get to have so much while other people have less than nothing? I saw this quote the other day:

"If you have the great luck of having health, education, and family and you live in a democracy, the world is all yours."

Reading that and thinking about it made me so emotional. It's 100% true. 

Health-wise, what is the worst thing that has ever happened to me? I can't even think of anything. I hurt my arm one time. I had the flu a few times. I get bad fevers. I have never even been sick enough to go to the hospital.

As for education, I have been so lucky. I went to an awesome elementary school and was able to skip 2 grades. Junior high and high school came easily to me, and I had some great opportunities for awards and extra-curriculars. And most amazing of all, I can go to university debt-free because I have scholarships. Those are a lot due to how hard I worked and what I did to succeed, but also simply because I live here and have supportive parents. Even if I didn't get scholarships and I wasn't saving my paychecks, I still wouldn't have to get a student loan because my family can afford to help me out so much.

My family is basically all still here. I was trying to think of the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and I couldn't. Nothing stands out as having a hugely negative impact - how is that even possible? 

After all that, then I hear this awful stories about people who have been abused, tortured, raped, who live in extreme poverty, and so many other awful things. Who decided that I get to have so much and be so lucky? It doesn't make sense to me. 

The things that I worry about or think about in a day - what colour I should paint my nails, what I'm going to do this weekend, what I want to have for supper....so inconsequential. People have to make such horrible decisions, or even worse, other people destroy their lives. My life is so amazing and I need to stop being so selfish and really make a difference.

It's just so hard to know where to start. Can I really change the world? Is that possible for a 17 year old? How?? 

I hope I figure it out. 

Generation Jobless: What can students do?

Lately, I've been hearing my generation referred to as "Generation Jobless". There are certainly some statistics that back this up:

"Among youths aged 15 to 24, employment declined by 19,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was 14.5%." (Survey results here)

This is double the overall unemployment rate of 7.2%, so clearly there is an issue here. Why are students and recent graduates struggling to find jobs? There's been tons of articles on that by much more knowledgeable economists, etc, so I'm not even going to try to answer that question. What I want to talk about is what students can do about it.

If unemployment is 14.5%, then we can infer that approximately 85.5% of students are able to find jobs.

What are these students doing right?

Experiential learning.

In an interview, nobody has ever asked me "Oh, what was the coolest thing you've learned in Communications class?" They ask about the projects we do with Enactus, the awards I've won through Junior Achievement, the conferences I've attended...that's what interests them.

My involvement with these programs (which are open to anyone) have easily been the biggest influence on my life.Although I've learned so much through formal education, but I am able to apply this knowledge and skills (while learning new ones) through experiential learning.

Companies don't want there to be such a high student unemployment rate. They want to hire students, but increasingly they are finding that there is a skill-position mismatch: students aren't prepared for the workforce.

So my advice to every single student out there: GET INVOLVED. Start a company, do charity work, join the Students' Union at your school, ANYTHING.

Learning doesn't only come from the classroom. It is so crucial that students find the time and commitment to work hard outside of school.

I don't want to be part of Generation Jobless. Do you?

Who am I?

I've always wanted to start a blog, but I never thought I had much to say. I'm 17 years old, after all, and there's still so much for me to learn - what could I possibly have to say that people might be interested to hear? But, then I thought about the blogs I like to read. They're all about people's life experiences, what they learned from them, and how other people can use this.

Maybe this won't teach you anything - maybe you'll just find it interesting. Either one works for me;)

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Bethany Dickey (shocker). This is my Twitter bio:

17. Accounting student @AcadiaU, Co-President @EnactusAcadia, Ambassador for @JAnovascotia, and compulsive shopper. The harder you work, the luckier you get.

It took me forever to try to sum myself up in however many characters you're allotted. If I could have more room, I would add something about:

• My addiction to reading
• My role models (Arlene Dickinson, Amanda Lang, Oprah, etc...)
• My presidency in the Acadia Children's Wish Society
• The fact that I'm entering my second year of study, and
• My career aspirations (social entrepreneur, CPA designation, change-maker)

There's so much that I always want to say (I'm one of those people) that I thought a blog could be a perfect outlet. I'm hoping to write posts about female empowerment/women in business, student life, social entrepreneurship....and whatever strikes my fancy.

Please leave comments or feel free to email me at any time: bethanydickey@gmail.com

Have a fabulous day!