The Youth Experience Podcast

The Youth Experience podcast is all about having casual conversations about the challenges and opportunities that we face as youth in 2021. And a lot of the challenges that we face are scary and difficult. But, the one thing we all have the power to control is our perspective. The way that we look at things can really change the way that we react. We can look at things through a positive lens or a negative lens.

In the last episode of season one, we sit down with Jemima Mills, a 19-year-old youth from Dominica, to talk about perspective. Before the pandemic began, Dominica was hit with a category five hurricane. On top of COVID-19 restrictions, Jemima and others on the island were affected in many other ways as a result of the hurricane. She had to find a way to do her work and school online in a house without electricity. All while being a 19-year-old youth running two of her own businesses. We also discuss how COVID-19 has changed our outlooks on life, the positive things that came out of the pandemic, the glass half empty versus the glass half full perspective, the way we look at challenges in our lives, Jemima’s perspective on the environment and climate change and so much more.

Thank you to everyone who listened to season one, and we look forward to hearing more youth experiences in season two coming in 2022. 

In today's episode, we sit down with Alexis Dukelow-Hunt, a 17-year-old youth from Ontario, Canada, to discuss the things that we really learn in school (aside from algebra and Shakespeare). 

We chat about everything from mental health and the pandemic to our perspective on failure. We discuss taking risks, what we're looking to post-pandemic, learning from our mistakes, helping others and Alexis shares her best study tip. All of this and more can be found in season one of the Youth Experience Podcast! 

Welcome back to episode four of the youth experience podcast!

In today’s episode, we sit down with Ebony Fernando, a 19-year-old youth from Ontario, Canada, to discuss our summer camp experiences.

Some of our best memories as youth come from our time spent at summer camp. When we remove ourselves from our homes and our family and friends, we start to learn a lot about ourselves. We grow as individuals, we learn how to work in terms and we learn about where we fit in.

Episode four dives into our summer camp experiences, how camp can help us grow, what Ebony wants the world to know about what life is like as a youth in 2021, what we’re looking forward to post-pandemic, the power of unleashing your inner child, being curious and so much more. Thank you for listening!

In today’s episode, we sit down with the co-founders of the Black Youth Empowerment Program (BYEP), Tayshaun Dao and Lladenyah Gayle, to discuss the future.

At just 12 and 13 years old, Tayshaun and Lladenyah started the BYEP, received a $250,000 grant and started successfully growing the program across the province. Now, at ages 14 and 15, these incredible youth are here to share their experiences as individuals and with the BYEP.

We discuss what pushed these hard-working youth to start this program, what they hope to achieve through BYEP and as individuals, what they hope to see change in the future, what marks they hope to leave on the world, the ability that youth have to make a big difference in the world and so much more. Thank you for listening!

Our early 20s are exciting and challenging. It feels like a time when we are supposed to get our crap together, but the reality is that most of the time our early 20s make us feel lost.

In this episode, we sit down with Jake Elliot, a 24-year-old youth from Ontario, Canada, to discuss the reality of our early 20s. What do we do when we feel lost? How do we figure out what we want to do with our lives? How do we stop comparing ourselves to others? How do we have healthier interactions on social media? How do we stop being our own worst critics? Where do we start learning about how to manage our money? What are TFSAs? What is credit? We discuss all this and more in this week’s episode of the youth experience podcast!

Happy International Youth Day! Today is a day set out by the United Nations to raise awareness of the challenges and hardships facing today’s youth. And this podcast was created in celebration of youth day! We want to shine a light on the stories, voices and ideas of youth today.

Youth face a lot of challenges in 2021 and in our futures. Maya Linsley, a 19-year-old youth from Ontario, Canada sits down with our host to discuss the challenges that the pandemic presented to her, how the pandemic has changed her outlook on life, taking things slower than we used to, the impact of social media and the three things that Maya wants to see change in the world. Enjoy episode one of the youth experience podcast!

The period between childhood and adulthood is complicated, exciting and intimidating! What is the youth experience really like? How do we overcome the small and large challenges we are faced with every day? What matters to us? What do we want our future to look like? How do we make it through our experiences as youth? Find out here on the Youth Experience Podcast. Brought to you by the Co-operative Young Leaders program.