by Ava McElhone Yates ’17

In the past year, I have had many memorable experiences. I have started my second year as a Williston student, joined the editorial board of New Moon Girls Magazine, met new friends, and done much more. And, recently, I went to New York City.

I have been to New York City many times. Each time it seems new, exciting, and interesting. I have been for family vacations and to see shows. But would I ever get to do something so exciting as attend breakfast at the Turkish Consulate? I didn’t think so until it came true on October 3rd, 2012.

I first found out about this opportunity when I got an email saying that New Moon Girls, the magazine I am on the editorial board of, had been given the chance to send a few people to a kickoff event for the first ever International Day of The Girl Child (October 11th). The United Nations is putting this day on its official calendar for the first time this year as a day to spread the word about helping girls around the world and advocating for girls’ rights. I applied quickly, and was delighted when I found out less than 24 hours before the event that I was offered a chance to go. I got up at four in the morning and drove to the train station, caught the train, and rode into the city.

My sister, my mom and I arrived at 7:30 at Grand Central Station and walked to the United Nations plaza, where we met another girl from the editorial board from New York, and another member from Pennsylvania. When we first got to the Turkish Consulate we were the only ones there, but that quickly changed. There ended up being around seventy people. We ate traditional Turkish food, and then the meeting began.

Turkey was hosting, but there were also ambassadors from Canada, Somalia, and New Zealand. We (the New Moon Girls representatives, the only girls at the meeting) were asked to stand when the Canadian ambassador spoke, and we met him afterwards. The ambassadors made speeches regarding standing up for girls around the world, and issues such as early and forced marriage, education, violence, and other things girls face. Many of the speeches were very inspirational to me. After the official speeches there was an open discussion. The guests were mainly women and the majority of them spoke. Many of them had come from women and girl’s organizations. They brought up similar issues, but added in other issues as well. One woman stood up and said, “When you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you educate a family.” I thought that was an amazing thing to get up and say.

This event taught me many things. It taught me that working together leads to action, that many people have similar interests that I do, that people care about girls, and that the world is working towards change. Most importantly it taught me that I can help change the world for the better.