In this week’s Youth Action Article, we have re-connected with a Youth Alumni, who has been actively involved in the UNODC Youth Initiative Magazine, “Butterfly Wings”. Meet Mia Rebernik, the 19-year-old young leader in action from Croatia.
Dear Mia, great to see you again and to have you onboard with the makings of the next issue of the Youth Magazine. Could you share what motivated you to participate in the creation of the magazine?
After having had an amazing time during last year’s Youth Forum, I wanted to continue to cooperate with inspiring youth and also meet Youth alumni from previous Youth Fora. Joining this magazine issue seemed like a great opportunity for me to express myself on paper, while applying reflecting through my knowledge around substance use and mental health to my article. I hope readers will find it helpful in some way. Taking part in this magazine issue was an excellent experience and I would definitely recommend everyone who has participated in the Youth Forum to join the magazine team!
For readers who don’t know, how would you describe the UNODC Youth Magazine, and what the contributing youth are trying to achieve?
From my point of view, the UNODC Youth Magazine is about giving youth a creative platform for their voice to be heard and a safe space to express their thoughts, creativity and knowledge. Also, our mission is to inspire readers to be better versions of themselves and acknowledge that even small gestures can have a big impact on other people. So, why not start from ourselves and make this world better with small acts of kindness?
Do you recall any special moments as you worked with your peers on the magazine?
There are a lot of memorable experiences from the workings on this magazine issue. But I enjoyed making a podcast the most. It still makes me smile when I remember the podcast recording I did with Lizeth; we were supposed to talk about our articles, but it somehow turned into a 3-hour long conversation between us, and we forgot that it was being recorded. We ended up talking about wedding dresses and fashion brands 😊. I feel very sorry for the editors who had to cut out 2 hours of us speaking about nonsense.
Were you able to expand your network and make friends with your participation in the magazine?
Yes, for sure. I have met amazing, smart and funny people while working on the magazine. Everybody is very friendly and open. It is a real pleasure to talk to and be friends with people from different parts of the world. I can learn a lot from them and our conversations are always interesting. I hope our friendship will last and who knows, maybe we’ll also meet in person someday.
Why do you think youth empowerment is an important issue today?
Since when I was a little child, my parents often used to tell me a famous proverb which, when translated into English, goes: “the world remains on the young”. Young people are the future of every nation, and who do we expect that will make the world a better place, if not youth? I think every young person should get informed about what’s happening around them. Often times, we tend to sweep up problems in our communities under the rug and say: “It is not my responsibility,” or “One person can’t change anything.” That might be so… until something happens to us or to our families. Young people have to realize that they have power when united, and if they won’t fight for their beliefs and rights, no one will.
A big thank you to Mia for continuing to contribute and be invested in promoting drug use prevention and making the world a better future for youth (even with small gestures, as she says!). If you are curious and interested in the previous UNODC Youth Initiative magazines, click here to read how young leaders have engaged creatively to communicate the importance of substance use prevention in an understandable and unique way to others.