Sami Thakur

00:00
Hi everyone. It's my pleasure to introduce our changemaker today. Sami, could you please introduce yourself with your name, your pronouns, what grade you're in school, what your school district is, and things like that?

00:17
Yeah, my name is Sami Thakur. I'm in 11th grade. I'm going to be a junior this year. I go to Oak Ridge High School and I'm part of the El Dorado Union High School School District. That's great. Okay, thank you for your introduction. Could you tell us a little bit more about your background?

00:30
More specifically, can you describe your experience with the environment growing up?

00:43
Yeah, so growing up, I traveled to a lot of different places and that helped me see how environments can vary so much from one community to another. Like in some places, I noticed cleaner cities, more recycling programs, and people being more involved in protecting nature, while in other areas they struggled with pollution and waste. And seeing those differences just made me realize how important environmental efforts are and how communities can improve when people work together to care for their surroundings.

01:14
That's a great answer. Yeah, I think it's important that we as young people are very aware and not ignorant about environmental racism in our communities. And it's great that you were noticing that at the age that you did. Moving on, what inspired you to dive deeper into climate action?

01:34
And kind of as a follow-up, what initially attracted you to join the California Youth Climate Policy Leadership Program, otherwise known as CYCP?

01:45
Yeah, so I'm involved in the Interact Club at my school, and that played a major role in inspiring me further. through environmental volunteering opportunities such as like community cleanups and sustainability focused projects I was able to see the direct impact that students can have when they're improving their local environment I worked alongside other students who are like also passionate about helping the community and that really motivated me to become more involved in climate action myself and those experiences showed me that like even small actions when they're done consistently and together as a group, it can create such a meaningful change and encourage a lot of other people to care more about protecting the environment.

02:27
And what attracted me to CYCP was the opportunity to learn more about environmental policy and how students can be involved in creating real change. Because I've like always cared about environmental issues, but I've always wanted to better understand how climate action works beyond just individual habits and like community service and just that kind of stuff. The program really stood out to me because it focuses on leadership, education, and giving youth a voice in important environmental discussions, which I think is one of the main things that we can always improve on as communities.

02:59
Yeah, I think the program does a great job at kind of teaching young people who have the passion, the techniques that they can use, and kind of that like the whole understanding of how to make policy change. So it's great that you had that experience at CYCP and I'd love to learn more about your experience in the program itself, right?

03:17
How was the process of designing, implementing, and leading an advocacy campaign for you?

03:30
So designing, implementing, and leading advocacy campaign through CYCP was really challenging but also like was rewarding throughout the process. My group focused on creating solutions that encouraged more sustainable habits and was increasing environmental awareness, especially among students and kids our age. Throughout the process, I learned how important teamwork, communication, and organization like skills are when leading a project. We always had to research our topic, plan goals, and figure out effective ways to reach our audience through outreach and education.

04:04
There was a lot of challenges, especially in communication, but the experience helped me grow as a leader and show me that even just small community efforts can create such a meaningful change when people work together and we go over these challenges together as a group. Yeah, that's great. It's great that you had that community to kind of go through that journey with.

04:25
And kind of on the other side of that question, what were some of the challenges and opportunities that came up during this process?

04:31
And in particular, if there were challenges, how did you really adjust to them?

04:36
Yeah, so I feel like one of the main challenges during the process was just having to communicate with the El Dorado Union Board and our school principal before taking steps toward the project because we wanted our advocacy campaign to create a real change within the school community. We had to learn how to present our ideas professionally and explain why our project would be beneficial.

05:03
And it was sometimes difficult because we needed approval and support before moving forward with certain plans, and it was hard to get that approval. But to adjust to these challenges, we focused on being organized, prepared, and clear in our communication and just ready for anything in the moment. We worked together to plan out our ideas, answer questions, and we always tried to make sure that our goals were realistic and well thought out so there wasn't any holes in our plan.

05:27
and this experience helped me become more confident with speaking with school leaders and taught me the importance of collaboration and professionalism which I thought was a big thing throughout this project. That's great I think that taking lessons away from some of the challenges and being like brave enough to pivot throughout the program is such a great quality that a lot of the students display or learn to display at least.

05:47
Okay so what was the impact of your advocacy campaign on your community?

05:54
I think one of the biggest impacts of our campaign was just helping bring more awareness to environmental issues within our school community and it encouraged a lot of students to think more about sustainability because a lot of the times like people were aware of these issues but they weren't aware of the long-term effect on it and I think we really brought this issue into more light in the moment and it also opened conversations with school leaders about making more environmentally friendly changes, and it showed that students are able to play an active role in creating a positive change themselves.

06:34
That's a great question. I mean, sorry, that was a great answer. Reflecting on your time in the CYCP program, what standout experiences or opportunities made the greatest impact on you?

06:47
I think one of the standout experiences from the program was collaborating with other students because I was able to see so many different students from different areas in California that were all passionate about climate action and creating change in their communities and I never knew that I knew that this was a problem but I never knew there were so many students that were willing to make a change in their community for this and it was so inspiring to hear all that and to hear the different perspectives they had and to be able to work together on projects and get their thoughts on your own project and it was helping you make a real impact in your community.

07:23
And another meaningful experience was presenting our ideas to the El Dorado Union Board and our school principal, because it helped me and my team build confidence in speaking professionally in regards to advocating for environmental change. And overall, the program strengthened my leadership, communication, and mainly teamwork skills, because it showed me how youth students are able to have a voice in important environmental discussions in front of people like the school board or your principal and just getting the information out there.

07:53
Yeah, I think it's always so great when we see youth be excited about climate action because, you know, at the end of the day, climate change affects our generation the most. So it's great that you were able to find that experience and also gain some technical skills to really make your advocacy campaign more successful. So yeah, kind of leading towards the end-ish, what does being a changemaker mean to you?

08:16
I think being a changemaker to me means being able to take initiative, to be able to create positive change and helping improve the community around you. Like recognizing problems and speaking up about them takes a lot of effort and working with others to find solutions is a whole nother step and it's able to make a real impact in things and being a changemaker isn't always about doing something huge and creating these huge projects it can also just be about small actions that are able to inspire others and lead towards bigger things over time and you just have to be able to have the willingness to learn and to lead others and stay committed to your project even when challenges come up towards you and it's hard to overcome them and through like CYCP and being involved in community service I've learned that anyone can make a difference when they're passionate about truly being able to help others and creating a path for a better future.

09:20
Yeah, I think change is incremental. Right. And I think you've definitely been a changemaker in your community, taking those steps of just making your community aware and also leading a project. With that being said, what advice would you offer to aspiring changemakers or students who are interested in joining the CYCP program?

09:40
I would say to students joining the program is just to be able to stay open minded and not be afraid to share your ideas with everyone, which I think is a big thing because then you're able to get other people's inputs on your idea. And also your input on other people's idea is a really important thing because it helps them get closer towards their goal.

10:05
And the whole program is just a really big opportunity to be able to learn more about climate action and while connecting with other students that are also passionate about creating the same change that you are and even like small efforts can make a meaningful impact so like as a student in the program it's always important to be able to stay involved and be willing to learn yeah I think once again being in a community of changemakers really does inspire you every single day and keeps you going I think even when you need to pivot and when you're in like unforeseen circumstances so that's great but kind of in more detail about CYCP as a program in what ways did the CYCP leadership program contribute to your personal and professional growth?

10:55
Yeah I would say that it mainly just helped me grow by being able to build up my confidence in speaking up on real issues and advocating in a structured way. I became more comfortable with just communicating with adults in general and decision makers about environmental and community concerns because they are always going to have their own thoughts on it and so do you and sometimes those thoughts are going to clash but it's always a good thing to be able to talk to them respectfully and that was a whole learning process that I definitely learned through the program and it definitely made me like be pushed to think more critically on how local decisions are made and how youth voices are able to have an impact on those decisions.

11:35
And I was able to really strengthen my teamwork skills through group discussions, collaborations, and I was able to listen and adapt to a lot of different perspectives on our program. And it really helped me also practice my organizing skills because I was able to organize the millions of ideas that were in my brain to just a clear solution focused argument and I think that was the really big thing that I learned through the program.

12:07
Yeah that's a great answer. In a more broader sense what do you think will stay with you beyond the program?

12:15
I think what will stay with me the most is that just the confidence to speak up on these issues because I definitely didn't have that confidence before the program because I didn't know where to start and how to get my ideas out there but I'll carry the skills that I gained in like collaboration listening and turning ideas into clear solutions that's a really big thing that will like be carried with me like towards life in general and I think that's a really big thing that I got gained from this program I'm sure and I'm sure that many of the other students also did yeah okay kind of ending with well not ending but like ending this part of our discussion with a fun note if you could describe CYCP leadership program in just a few words let's say like three words to make it a bit fun what would they be and why um i would say i would summarize my experience with empowering growth driven and eye-opening because I was able to really see a lot of things to the program that I wasn't able to see before and just being able to have that voice and speaking up on these issues because you had the program leading you towards your final project that was a really big thing that I think came out of the program for me yeah that was a pageant worthy answer um okay this is kind of our last part of our discussion but how will you continue serving as a changemaker I think I'll continue serving as a changemaker by just being able to stay involved in my school and my local community and being able to speak up on the issues that matter to students and residents.

14:02
I plan to keep advocating for the environmental awareness and youth voice in a lot of different areas of decision making while also encouraging other students to get involved into these decisions. I'll look for a lot of leadership opportunities where I can organize and collaborate and turn these ideas into action, whether it's through school clubs, future civic engagement opportunities, or community programs or more programs like CYCP.

14:27
That was a great answer. As we kind of discuss your future and your next steps, can you discuss any future plans or initiatives that you have in mind to further promote sustainability, environmental stewardship in your community?

14:48
Yeah, I would say I definitely want to continue promoting sustainability by supporting and expanding school and community-based environmental efforts, which could improve recycling education, which I think is a really big thing for my district specifically and helping organize cleanup events and or encouraging more responsible waste management in schools which is also a really big factor in a lot of schools in California and I'm also interested in working with student groups to raise awareness um and I hope to keep on building on existing initiatives like school gardens or environmental clubs and increasing a lot of student participation, making sustainability feel more connected to everyday habits and not just like a one-time project.

15:38
Yeah, those are great ideas. I think many times when we think about climate action, we think about like the big things, but it's important that we start integrating environmentalism and like climate action in our everyday lifestyle. So that's great. And last but not least, this is the very last question. Do you plan on pursuing environmentalism as a career?

16:00
At this time, I'm not like fully set on pursuing it as a career, but it's definitely a field that I'm really interested in. I could see myself incorporating like environmental advocacy or a certain kind of sustainability work into my future path, but also alongside my interest in like community health and service. But that's definitely a thing that I want to keep going throughout my life.

16:27
Yeah, that sounds great. I mean, you're only an upcoming junior, right?

16:32
So I think you have a lot of time to kind of figure out how you can personally implement environmentalism in your career as you embark on it. But with that being said, thank you so much for joining us today. Hearing your story as a changemaker, I think is truly inspiring for anybody who is going to be listening to this podcast. So yeah, thank you for having us today.

16:54
Yeah, thank you.