Unfiltered Thoughts of a Previously Unsuspecting Mind

Article by Angeliki Fotopoulou (GR)

“The European Youth Parliament.”

Sounds like a big deal, right? Back in 2018, when I first heard about it, I had no idea as to what to expect. One thing I was sure of, though; its members must be “important people”, strict, demanding, setting the expectations high – too high sometimes, always looking polished in their suits and ties.

Fast forward two years later and if you can trust me on anything, you can trust me on this; I couldn’t have been more wrong. Titles can be misleading. And –don’t get mad– its members are important people, just not in the way my 16 (and a half)-year-old self initially thought.

EYP’s importance, and therefore its members’, isn’t measured in numbers. It’s not related to a social status or to political power. Its significance lies in the overwhelming effect that it can have to a single, yet unsuspecting, person. I like to think that once you fully let go of your restraints and boundaries, it can overpower you and you will never be the same. In that sense,

its people can end up being some of the most important that you’ll ever meet. They are shaping you, giving you experiences and skills that will accompany you for a lifetime and, if you’re like me, you aren’t able to realise that until you reflect on who you were before and who you are after meeting them. They are friends, colleagues, partners in crime…family.

And that’s what makes it so mesmerising, what draws me to it like a moth that’s drawn to a flame.

EYP is a feeling, a state of mind. One can take from it what one craves more, each and every time. We all yearn for something different. Within EYP I feel safe, accepted, heard, respected…by strangers (!), to which four days later I can refer to as friends.

And it’s this exact same feeling which I’m receiving, that I crave to spread to the world, generally, and give back to EYP, specifically;

Amor, Љубав, Rakkaus, Mīlestība, Liebe, Sevgi, Αγάπη, Love.

A universal language.