Heello Everyone!

My name is Pooja Ahluwalia, i'm 18 years old and I have been working with FolesHillfields for around 4 years now. I'm currently blogging to tell everyone about an amazing adventure that I will be embarking in my 6 week summer "holiday", in CHINA - and how rubbish i am at using chopsticks!

If you do not already know, I will be taking part in a programme called the Global Fellowship, the same programme that Raadia Imran is also involved in. I'll be writing up my experiences both here, and on the Global Fellowship site

The Global Fellowship programme works with school and college leavers, youth community representatives and apprentices to give them a strong foundation in interacting with one of the major countries of the new global economy. Every year in July and August they send 100 "amazing young people" to Brazil, China or India to investigate issues of culture, language, education and global enterprise.  The fully-funded six week journey is an investigation into the social, economic and environmental effects of globalisation and learning what a positive role we can play in the process. On our return all Fellows automatically become part of a network of active globally-minded young people in England with a role sharing their experiences and learning on local and national platforms, to raise awareness of global issues.

Ok, let's be honest, I really didn't think that i would get through. When I was filling out the application form I was thinking "all of those amazing people out there are going to apply and I don't stand a chance." Well as you might have noticed already... I was WRONG! It just so happens that all of these years lots of people were able to see how amazing I am except me. I am telling this story because so far the GF experience has unleashed a completely new way at looking at life for me and I would like other people to feel like they can definately change the way that they see life too. FolesHillfields has also had a big part to play in helping me become the person that I am. I don't think that I would have ever become so aware of the issues today's world faces and would have never made them such an important aspect of my life if it wasn't for this project.

So basically, what i'm trying to get at is, the GF experience has showed me how to appreciate the person that I am. In order to get through life it is very important to have faith in who you are and when you have done that everything else gets much easier. I always used to tell myself that "I can be anyone and I can do anything" as long as I take action. Your future is in your own hands. If there is an opportunity available and you really want to do it then GO FOR IT! You will never know unless you try!

Thank you so much for reading my first blog! Hope you got as much out of reading this as i did writing it :)

"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle." Christian D. Larson

Pooja. A :)